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MEMOIRS OF THE LIVES 



OF 



ROBERT HALDANE OF AIRTHREY 



AND OF HIS BROTHER, 



JAMES ALEXANDER HALDAM 



BY ALEXANDER HALDANE, ESQ., 

OF THE INNER TEMPLE, BARRISTER-AT-LAW. 



"There is no man that hath left house, or lands, for my sake, and the Gospel's, but he shall 
receive an hundredfold now in this time, with persecutions, . . . and in the world to come 
eternal life." Mark x. 29, 30.— See Address to the Public in 1800, by R. Haldane. 

" This is the last day of the year, and the last letter I shall write this year. My life has been 
wonderfully preserved, much beyond the usual course of nature. Goodness and mercy have fol- 
lowed me all the days of my life ; and without the shadow of boasting, I can add, I shall dwell 
in the house of the Lord forever."— Extract from a Letter of J. A. Haldane, December 31, 1850. 




NEW YORK: 

ROBERT CARTER k BROTHERS, 

2 85 BROADWAY. 

1853. 



VMffi 



8TERE0TYPED BT 

THOMAS B. SMITH, 
216 William St., N. Y 



PRINTED BT 

JOHN A GRAY, 
97 Cliff St., N. Y. 



PREFACE. 

On the death of Mr. Kobert Haldane in December, 1842, a 
very strong desire was in many quarters expressed for a memoir 
of his remarkable career. There were, however, several objec- 
tions to an immediate publication. It appeared that if a record 
of his life were calculated to be generally useful, and not merely 
designed to attract an ephemeral interest, it would be better, in 
regard to some of the scenes in which he had been engaged, to 
await, at least for a few years, the mellowing influence of time. 
Besides, it would have been impossible to record his life without 
blending with it that of his then surviving brother, as they had 
been uniformly associated together in nearly all of their plans and 
operations for the diffusion of the Gospel. The death of Mr. J. 
A. Haldane, in February, 1851, and the lapse of more than nine 
years, have removed the chief of these objections. The desire 
for a Memoir has been renewed, and it is now committed to the 
Christian public. 

The compiler is not insensible to the delicacy of his position, 
as the biographer of relatives so greatly beloved and revered. 
But if his position has its disadvantages, these are not without 
compensation. No stranger could so well delineate their charac- 
ter, or, at all events, detail the facts of their lives, as one who 
from childhood enjoyed their intimacy and confidence ; whilst a 
close and continuous correspondence for nearly thirty years, in 
connection with all their plans, works, and writings, together witli 
the possession of numerous other letters and documents, extending 
over a period embracing the whole of their career, must afford 



IV PREFACE. 

more than ordinary means for illustrating their motives, their 
opinions, and their acts. 

It will require no recondite skill in criticism to detect in these 
Memoirs many imperfections, some of which will be attributed 
by the candid reader to the circumstances under which they have 
been written, at intervals snatched from the continuous engage- 
ments of professional pursuits. Amongst these imperfections 
will be found two or three unimportant repetitions in the use of 
documents available for different parts of the narrative. 

If, however, the work shall in any measure present the two 
brothers such as they were in faith and love and zeal, it will have 
answered its design, and may, it is hoped, tend to promote the 
glory of God by stimulating others to follow their example in so 
far as they followed Christ. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTEE I. 

Page 

Their Biri>— Gleneagles — Anecdotes and Early Characteristics . .13 



CHAPTER II. 
[1780—1794.] 

Robert Haldane joins the Monarch — Action between the Foudroyant and 
Pegase — Lord St. Vincent's Prediction — Influence of Dr. Bogue — Loss 
of the Royal George — Relief of Gibraltar — Chase of the Leocadia — Sails 
to Newfoundland — Quits the Navy — Tour of Europe — His Marriage — 
Improvements at Airthrey — Anecdotes 36 



CHAPTER in. 
[1785—1795.] 

James Haldane joins the Duke of Montrose — East India Ships — Anecdotes 
— Religious Impressions — Conviviality of the Times — Duel — Anecdotes 
— The Contrast — Appointed to command the Melville Castle — Marriage — 
Sir Ralph Abercromby — Detention of the Indian Fleet — Quells the Mu- 
tiny on board the Dutton — Begins to study the Bible — Quits the Melville 
Castle — Death of his Father-in-law — Goes to Edinburgh . . .51 



CHAPTER IV. 
[1794—95.] 

"Grasps at a Shadow, catches the Substance"— Effects of the French Rev- 
olution on Robert Haldane — Freeholders' Meeting at Stirling — Confer- 
ences with Ministers near Airthrey — Studies the Evidences of Christianity 
— Progress of the Change — Conversation with a pious Stonemason . 81 



VI CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER Y. 
[1795—98.] 

Page 
Robert Haldane plans a Mission to Bengal — Determines to sell Airthrey — 
His intended Associates, Dr. Bogue, Dr. Innes, and Mr. Ewing — Other 
Preparations — Benares — Visits Dr. Bogue — Applies for Consent of the 
East India Company — Letters to Mr. Secretary Dundas — Errors in the 
Life of Mr. Wilberforce — Disclaims Politics — Interviews with Members 
of the Government — Mr. Wilberforce — Bishop Porteus' Approval — Re- 
fusal of the Court of Directors — Further Applications — Meetings at Mr. 
Newton's — Letter to Mr. Campbell — Final abandonment of the Design 94 



CHAPTER YI. 
[1795—97.] 

Introduction to Mr. Campbell and Mr. Aikman — State of Religion in Scot- 
land at the end of the Eighteenth Century — Mr. J. A. Haldane's Tour 
with the Rev. Charles Simeon — Visit to Rev. A. Stewart, of Moulin — 
Important Results — Accident to Mr. Simeon — Return to Edinburgh — 
Letter of Mr. Simeon — Death of Colonel Duncan, of Lundie — Mr. J. A. 
Haldane's first Plans of Usefulness — Distribution of Tracts — Sabbath 
Schools — Lay Preaching at Gilmerton — Tour to the West of Scotland — 
Sixty Sabbath Schools founded — Preaching at Gilmerton — Dr. Charles 
Stuart — Miss Aikman' s Letter — Approval of Mr. Simeon . . .119 

CHAPTER YH. 
[1797.] 

Mr. James Haldane's first Tour through the North of Scotland and the 
Orkneys in 1797 — Prayer Meeting at the Rev. Mr. Black's — Lay Preach- 
ing — Leaves Edinburgh on the 12th July — Letter from Banff — Aberdeen 
— Magisterial Interference — Preaching at Banff — Its Effects — State of Re- 
ligion in the Orkneys — Conversion of an old Man of ninety-two — Preaches 
to Crowds at Kirkwall — Accident to Mr. Aikman — Blessing on Mr. J. 
Haldane's Labors in Caithness — Letter of Mrs. M'Neil, of Elgin — Battle 
ofCamperdown — State of Religion at Inverness — Conclusion . .144 



CHAPTER Yd. 
[1797—98.] 

Effects of the Tour of 1797 — Discussions as to Lay Preaching — Letters 
from Mr. Simeon — Mr. Simeon's second Visit to Scotland — Tour in the 



CONTENTS. VU 

Page 

West and South of Scotland in 1798— Meeting with Rev. Rowland Hill 
— Mr. Haldane induces Mr. Z. Macaulay to bring over a number of Af- 
rican Children from Sierra Leone to be educated 177 



CHAPTER IX. 

[1798.] ; 

Mr. Haldane sells his paternal estate — Correspondence and Challenge of 
Professor Robison — Mr. Rowland Hill opens the Circus — Preaches to 
immense multitudes on the Calton Hill — Makes several Tours — Returns 
to England with Mr. Haldane — Correspondence with Mr. Macaulay about 
the African children — Mr. Rowland Hill's Journal 193 



CHAPTER X. 

[1799.] 

Mr. Haldane plans a Seminary for the education of Preachers — Plan for 
erecting places of worship, to be called Tabernacles, in the chief towns 
in Scotland — Mr. Ewing resigns his post as a minister of the Church of 
Scotland — Formation of the Tabernacle Church — Mr. J. A. Haldane 
unanimously solicited to become the Pastor — His Ordination — Blessing 
on the Tabernacle preaching — Opening of the Glasgow Circus — Mr. 
Haldane's classes, or seminaries for preaching 213 



CHAPTER XI. 
[1799.] 

Opposition to the new plans — Pastoral Admonition — Opposition of Relief 
Church and of the Anti-Burghers — Deposition of the Rev. George Cowie, 
of Huntley — Character of Mr. Cowie — His testimony to Mr. James Hal- 
dane — Second Tour to the North, joined by Mr. Innes and Mr. Aikman 
— Visits the Orkneys and Shetlands — Preaches at Fulah, the Ultima 
Thule of the Romans — Returns to Caithness — Inverness — Edinburgh 234 



CHAPTER XLI. 

[1799—1800.] 

Mr. Haldane attacked by the " Anti- Jacobin Review" — Mr. Haldane's " Ad- 
dress on Politics" — Views of the duty of Christians as to politics, similar 
to those of Joseph Milner — Mr. Pitt's threatened measure to put down 
unlicensed preaching — Preparations for Tour in 1800 — Mr. J. Haldane 
visits Arran and Kintyre with Mr. Campbell — Arrested and sent to the 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

Page 

Sheriff, under an escort of Volunteers — Important result of the Tour — 
Dr. Lindsay Alexander's sketch of Mr. J. Haldane's character . .251 



CHAPTER Xin. 
[1799—1801.] 

[r. J. A. Haldane's labors — Rev. Andrew Fuller— Mr. R. Haldane's First 
Sermon — Anecdote of Sermon at Stilton — Opening of the Edinburgh 
Tabernacle — Mr. Aikman's Chapel — Labors at Dumfries — Tour in Ire- 
land — Mr. Buchanan — Rev. Thomas Scott — Catherine Haldane — Do- 
mestic Character— Captain Gardner — Death of Sir Ralph Abercromby 268 



CHAPTER XIV". 

[1802—3.] 

Mr. James Haldane visits Buxton — Accompanied by a Clergyman — Preaches 
at Macclesfield, Castleton, Matlock, &c. — Revival in Breadalbane — Tour, 
in 1803, from Edinburgh to the Orkney Islands — Tour to Berwick, Aln- 
wick, Carlisle, Dumfries, and Glasgow — Mr. Fuller's Second Journey — 
Groundless Rumor — Mr. Haldane's Economy — His Seminaries . . 287 



CHAPTER XY. 

[1804—5.] 

Mr. James Haldane preaches on the Death of Lord Camelford, and on Du- 
elling — Mr. James Haldane visits Buxton and Dublin — Preaches in the 
Bethesda Chapel — Mr. Walker, Fellow of Trinity College — Mr. James 
Haldane goes to London — Death of Admiral Lord Duncan — Tour to 
Breadalbane, Inverness, Caithness, &c 304 



CHAPTER XYL 
[1799—1810.] 

Progressive changes the result of circumstances — Mr. Ewing's zeal for 
Congregationalism, and Weekly Fellowship Meetings — Constitution of 
Churches at Glasgow — Discussions about Church order — Apostolic 
Practice and Baptism — Disruption in the New Connection in 1808 — Its 
consequences — Controversy with Mr. Ewing — Anecdote of Dr. Stuart 
and Lord Brougham — Letter from Montauban — Sentiments of the two 
Brothers on Church Order 321 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

[1810—19.] 

Pago 

Mr. Haldane purchases Auchingray as a Country Residence — His Improve- 
ments — Plans for the Continent — Airdrie — " Evidences of Christianity" — 
Letters of Mr. Hardcastle and Mr. Hill — " Edinburgh Christian Instruct- 
or" — Mr. J. A. Haldane continues to preach in the villages round Edin- 
burgh — Usefulness at Portobello — Sir David Milne — Scene at North 
Berwick — Visit to Harrovvgate — The Highlands — Anecdote — Death of 
his Mother-in-law — Abercromby Family — Captain Gardner — Death of 
Mrs. J. A. Haldane 346 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

[1816—17.] 

Mr. Haldane's Visit to Paris — Geneva — Letter to Rev. E. Bickersteth — 
Glory of Geneva in the Sixteenth Century — Its Apostasy — State in 1816 
— Mr. Haldane's successful Labors — Testimony of Dr. Pye Smith — Mr. 
Haldane expounds the Epistle to the Romans to the Theological Stu- 
dents — Letter to Professor Cheneviere — Righteousness of God — Sov- 
ereignty of God — Views of Forbearance — Mr. Rieu's Triumphant Death 
— Excitement at Geneva — Dr. Malan's Conversion — His Sermon — Con- 
flict at Geneva — Remarkable Conversion of nearly all of the Theological 
Students — Persecution — Mr. Haldane prepares to quit Geneva — Parting 
Advice — Arrival of Mr. Henry Drummond — His Zeal — Conversion of 
Dr. Merle D'Aubigne — M. Gaussen's Testimony 372 



CHAPTER XIX. 

[1817—1823.] 

Mr. Haldane passes through Lyons to Montauban — French Commentary 
on the Romans — Letter to Mr. Bickersteth — Montauban — M. Encontre, 
Second Mathematician in France — M. Bonnard, Dean of the Faculty — 
Low State of Protestantism in France — M. Gachon — Mr. Haldane's La- 
bors — Professor Pradel — Anecdote of M. Le Villele and Lord Stuart de 
Rothsay — Continental Society — Henri Pyt — Conversion of a Pelagian 
Pastor — Mr. Haldane quits Montauban — M. Bonnard accompanies him 
to Paris — Joseph Wolff — Letters of M. Marzials — Testimonies of Dr. 
Merle D'Aubigne and M. F. Monod — Returns to Scotland — Continental 
Society — Visits Ireland — Mr. J. E. Gordon — Account of Peter Heaman, 
executed for Piracy — Mr. J. A. Haldane's Occupations — Testimonies to his 
Usefulness — His Writings — " Scripture Magazine" — Revelation of God's 
Righteousness — Strictures on Mr. Walker of Dublin — Duel between Sir 
Alexander Boswell and Mr. Stuart of Dunearn — Letter of Rev. R. Hill 41 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XX. 
[1821—26.] 

Page 
Importance of the Apocrypha Controversy as involving the Canon of Scrip- 
ture — Origin of the Controversy in 1821 — Failure of Mr. Haldane's en- 
deavor to obtain an amicable adjustment — Intermingled Apocrypha — Rev. 
John Owen — Vacillating conduct of the Committee — First Edinburgh 
Statement — Cambridge Protest — Mr. Simeon and Mr. Gorham — Doubts 
as to the Sacred Canon — Mr. Haldane's first Review — Toulouse and 
Montauban Bibles — Second Edinburgh Statement — Character of Dr. 
Andrew Thomson — Dr. Thomson personally attacked — Dr. SteinkopfTs 
Pamphlets — Mr. Haldane's second Review — Haffner's Preface — M. Bost 
— Foreign Bible Societies oppose the Preachers of the Gospel — Dr. 
Gordon's Testimony — Letter of Mr. Haldane 441 



CHAPTER XXI. 

[1826—1833.] 

Discussion respecting the Canon and Inspiration of Scripture — Dr. Pye 
Smith's Defence of Dr. Haffner — Dr. Carson's Reply — Mr, Haldane on 
Inspiration — Extracts from Dr. Carson — Professor Gaussen's Theop- 
neustia, or " It is written" — Progress of right views on Inspiration — 
Progressive Reformation of the Bible Society — Dismissal of Van Ess — 
Anglicanus — Mr. Haldane's Pamphlets — Dr. Thomson's Speech — His 
Visit to Paul's-cray — Deplores the prevailing laxity of Christian princi- 
ple — Friendship between Dr. Thomson and the two Brothers . . 472 



CHAPTER XXn. 
[1828—1833.] 

Rise of Irvingism — Rev. Edward Irving — Mr. J. A. Haldane's Refutation 
of the Erroneous Doctrines — Discussion with Mr. Drummond — Dr. 
Thomson's Letters as to the Gift of Tongues — Mr. J. E. Gordon — Death 
of Dr. Thomson — His Character by Dr. Chalmers and Dr. M'Crie — Dr. 
Thomson's Farewell Speech — Captain J. E. Gordon — Annual Meeting 
of the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1831 — Institution and Failure 
of the Trinitarian Bible Society — Pamphlets of Rev. J. -Scott — Mr. J. J. 
Gurney and others answered by Mr. Haldane — Mr. Wilks accuses Mr. 
Haldane of being the author of a furious Theological war in Switzer- 
land — Mr. Haldane's Answer — Character of Mr. Haldane's Pamphlets — 
Progressive purification of the Bible Society — Mr. Bickersteth's Motion 
— Good effects of the Controversy 488 



CONTENTS. XI 



CHAPTER XXHL 
[1824—1833.] 

Page 

Theological Seminary in Paris — Publication addressed to the Rev. Daniel 
Wilson — Preparation of his " Exposition of Romans" — Mr. James Hal- 
dane's Engagements — His Letters— Respecting Rev. Ebenezer Brown's 
Sermon before Lords Brougham and Denman — Respecting Dr. Colqu- 
houn and Ministerial Popularity — Respecting Dr. Stuart's Death — Re- 
specting the Row Doctrine of Universal Pardon — Mr. James Haldane's 
Preaching Tours in 1829-30 — Death of his eldest Son, James — Dr. 
M'Crie's approval of Mr. James Haldane's Doctrine of Personal Assu- 
rance — Mr. Howels' Death — Mr. Aikman's Death, and Rowland Hill's 504 



CHAPTER XXIV. 
[1834—1840.] 

Mr. Haldane publishes an Enlarged Edition of his " Evidences" — Anecdote 
of David Hume's Death-bed — Anecdote of Adam Smith — Publication 
of " Exposition of Romans" — Dr. Chalmers' Opinion of the Work — Let- 
ters to Dr. John Brown on his Refusal to Pay the Annuity-tax — Letter 
to Mr. Macaulay on his Speech on the Ballot — Letter to the " Edinburgh 
Christian Instructor" — Commences his Last Labor . . . .519 



CHAPTER XXY. 
[1840—1842.] 

Mr. Haldane's Last Labors in Revising his " Exposition of Romans" — 
Visit to Auchingray — His Sermons — Completes his Revision — Returns 
to Edinburgh — Publishes his "Exposition" — Plan of Circulating the 
Bible in Selected Portions — Mr. Haldane's Last Illness and Death — Ex- 
tract from the u Witness" — Testimony of the Edinburgh Bible Society — 
Death of Mrs. Haldane 538 



CHAPTER XXVI. , 

[1842—1848.] 

Mr. J. A. Haldane opposes Errors respecting the Atonement — Mr. Hinton, 
Dr. Jenkyn, Dr. Payne, and Dr. Wardlaw — Letter to the " Evangelical 
Magazine" — Labors as an Octogenarian — Letter on the Death of Mr. 
Cleghorn — Visit to London and Buxton — Death of his Eldest Daughter — 
Letter on Miss Hardcastle's Death — Death of Dr. Abercrombie — Treatise 
on Christian Union — Publishes " Exposition of Galatians" — His Letters 553 



XU CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXVn. 
[1848—1851.] 

Page 
Mr. J. Haldane as an Octogenarian — Sentiments as to Public Fasts — His 

own Practice — La Mancha — Marriage of his Daughter Isabella — Mr. 
Burdon Sanderson — Letter describing West Jesmond — Visit to the 
Manor House, East Ham— Sermons at Woolwich — Death of Major John 
Gordon, and of his Mother, Mrs. Haldane Gordon — Visit of the Rev. 
James Gordon — Jubilee — Illness, 1849 — Winterfield — Letter to Colonel 
Anderson — Romaine's Letters — " Exposition of Hebrews" — Letter to 
Lady Stair — Personal Reign — Papal Aggression — Close of 1850 — Ill- 
ness and Death — His Funeral — Testimonies to his Character and Use- 
fulness — Conclusion 577 



MEMOIRS 

OF ROBERT HALDANE OF AIRTHREY 

AND OF HIS BROTHER, 

JAMES ALEXANDER HALDANE. 



CHAPTER I. 



Robert Haldane was born on the 28th of February, 1764, in 
his father's house, on the north side of Queen Ann-street, Caven- 
dish-square, London. His younger brother, James Alexander 
Haldane, was born at Dundee, on the 14th of July, 1768, within 
a fortnight after his father's death. 

Both on their father's and their mother's side, they were 
descended from an ancient Perthshire family, for many centuries 
possessors of the free barony of Gleneagles, a valley in the Ochill 
hills, opening upon the moor of Tullibardine, and the fertile 
plains of Strathearn, towards the distant Grampians, whose tower- 
ing summits bound the prospect. In old charters, in the rolls of 
Parliament, and in other public documents, by the caprice of 
orthography, the family name is variously written Halden, Hal- 
dane, Hadden, or Hauden. There is no doubt that it is of Norse 
origin. It is still common in Denmark, and from Haldan Hill, 
near Exeter, to Halden Rig, near Kelso, the Danish chiefs, who 
were driven beyond the Humber by King Alfred, have indented 
many local and unmistakable traces of their leader's name, as 
recorded by the Saxon chroniclers. There is no doubt that the 
lands of Halden Rig were called after the Northern warrior. 
But, passing by the mist-enveloped traditionary legends of a 
barbarous age, and approaching the light of modern records, 
when surnames became hereditary, it is on record that, three 



14 SIR JOHN HALDANE. 

centuries later, a younger son of the border family of Halden, 
near Kelso, migrated into Perthshire, and married the heiress of 
Gleneagles, adopting the armorial bearings of that family, instead 
of his own, but retaining his surname, as derived from his pater- 
nal lands. In Scotland, oral tradition runs into the deep and far 
recesses of legendary antiquity. Its written documents are of 
comparatively modern date. "Nowhere," says a great Scotch 
legal antiquarian, Mr. Biddell, — "nowhere is ancestry more 
prized or paraded than with us, and yet in no country are the 
means of elucidating it so scanty." In proof of this, a charter of 
the lands of Frandie, forming part of the Gleneagles estate, 
granted in the twelfth century to Koger de Halden, by King 
William the Lyon, and still in possession of the family, is noticed 
by Sir James Dairy mple, in his Collections (page 392), as 
amongst the earliest extant. 

Kather more than a hundred years later, Aylmer de Haldane, 
of Gleneagles, in Strathearn, is found amongst the barons, who, 
in 1296, swore fealty to Edward I. of England ; and Nisbet, in 
his " Critical and Historical Kemarks" upon the Kagman Koll, 
observes that the Haldanes were " even then barons of consider- 
able consequence," adding, "the house of Gleneagles have vouch- 
ers for instructing their antiquity beyond most families in 
Perthshire." It would be alike tedious and unprofitable to trace 
their descent, from that period to the beginning of the last cen- 
tury, through seventeen successive marriages, with the noble or 
baronial families of Graham, Arnott, Mar, Seton, Menteith, Mon- 
trose, Lawson, Mar (2), Perth, Glencairn, Hume, Marchmont, 
Tullibardine, "Wemyss, Grant, Strathallan, and Erskine of Alva. 
In fact, there would be nothing very remarkable to arrest atten- 
tion, for they have left behind them little more than the record 
of their names, their knighthood, or their offices ; and in this, as 
in most other genealogies, we are reminded of what the celebrated 
Sir Thomas Brown quaintly observes : " There is no antidote 
against the oblivion of time, * * generations pass while some 
trees stand, and old families last not three oaks. * * * The 
greater part of men must be content to be as though they had 
not been, to be found in the register of God, not in the record 
of men." 

It will be sufficient to state, that the most eminent of the medi- 
aeval Barons of Gleneagles was Sir John Haldane, who held, in 
very troublous times, several of the highest offices in the kingdom, 



SIR JOHN HALDANE. 15 

and became successively Ambassador of James the Third to the 
Court of Denmark, Master of the King's Household, Sheriff Prin- 
cipal of Edinburgh, until, finally, as "Lord Justice-General of 
Scotland beyond the Forth," he attained a dignity next to that 
of the Lord Chancellor. In 1460 he married Agnes Menteith, 
of Ruskie, a descendant of the old Earls of Menteith, and one of 
the two co-heiresses of the half of the lands and honors of her 
maternal great-grandsire, Duncan, last of the ancient Saxon Earls 
of Levenax or Lennox, who was beheaded on Stirling Castle, in 
1424, with his son-in-law, the late Regent Albany, and his own 
three sons. 

This marriage entailed upon the Gleneagles family long and 
arduous litigation with Lord Darnley, who finally established his 
claim to the peerage and one half of the lands, in right of his 
grandmother, the Duchess of Albany, whose priority in age, as 
the elder daughter of the Earl of Lennox, had been disputed by 
Sir John Haldane.* 

In 1482, when the Duke of Gloucester, afterwards Richard the 
Third, invaded Scotland, Sir John Haldane was appointed, with 
George Lord Seton, Alexander Ramsay of Dalhousie, ancestor of 
the Marquis, and Robert Logan of Restalrig, "joint Captains, 
Chieftains, Keepers, and Governors of the town of Berwick, and 
to defend it against the invasion of our old enemies of England." 
The campaign was speedily decided by the defection of Douglas 
(Bell the Cat) Earl of Angus, and the other rebellious Barons, at 
the Bridge of Lauder ; and Berwick, left unprotected, was forced 
to capitulate to the Plantagenet, never more to be retaken or re- 
stored. Sir John died in 1493, and was succeeded by his son, 
Sir James, who, shortly before his death in 1505, was, at a time 
of national alarm, nominated by King James IY. to be keeper of 
the King's Castle of Dunbar. His successor, another Sir John, 
had scarcely won his gilded spurs when he fell, in early man- 
hood, on the fatal field of Flodden, along with a great part of 
the chivalry of Scotland, rallying round their rash but gallant 
monarch. 

It was soon after these times of turbulence and war that the 

* See the History of the Partition of the Lennox, by Mark Napier, Esq., a de- 
scendant of the celebrated inventor of Logarithms, and as such from the other 
co-heiress of Menteith, who divided with Agnes Haldane the other half of the 
Lennox. See also the learned Reply of John Riddell, Esq., the celebrated Scottish 
legal antiquary. 



16 ANECDOTES. 

translation of the Scriptures into the vulgar tongue was preparing, 
both for Scotland and England, a moral and religious revolution 
more complete and decisive than any which had yet occurred. 
It was on the 4th February, 1526, that the first copy of the New 
Testament, translated and printed abroad in English, arrived in 
Britain. From that day may be traced the increasing progress 
of the Protestant Keformation, and in no country did it take a 
deeper or firmer root than in Scotland. In the vain attempt of 
Rome to arrest the circulation of the Bible, to stop the preaching 
and crush the truths of the Gospel, the whole nation was con- 
vnlsed. In that long and arduous struggle the Haldanes seem to 
have taken a consistent part, on the side of religious freedom. 
The name of Gleneagles appears amongst the Lords of the Con- 
gregation, and during the reign of James VI. they stood by the 
Protestant cause, both in its prosperity and adversity. In 1585, 
when the Earl of Angus and the other banished Lords returned 
from England, to take advantage of the popular indignation 
roused by the persecuting acts of the Earl of Arran, the Laird of 
Gleneagles is mentioned by Calderwood as prominent in what 
was called " the raid of Stirling." He was a prisoner in the town 
when it was attacked, but was enabled to join the assailants, and 
assisted in the armed remonstrance with the King, which brought 
back the exiled ministers, and drove Arran and his abettors into 
disgrace and banishment. It is mentioned, that when Sir William 
Stewart, Colonel of the Royal Guard, and brother of the obnoxious 
Earl, was repulsed from the west port of Stirling, he was so hotly 
followed, " that Mr. James Haldane, brother-german to the Laird 
of Gleneagles, overtook him ; and as he was laying hands on him, 
was shot by the Colonel's servant, Joshua Henderson."* 

In the following century another Knight of the family was, in 
1650, a leader in the Presbyterian army of the congregation op- 
posed to Cromwell, and fell in the rout at Dunbar. His lady 
received from one who alleged that he was his messenger his own 
ring (which is still preserved), with an assurance that he was safe, 
but detained with other prisoners of rank in the castle of a noble- 
man near the battle-field. The chiefs said to be his companions 
in captivity were found as described, but Sir John had never been 
amongst them, and returned no more. 

He was succeeded by Sir John Haldane, the last of the Knights 
of Gleneagles in the male line. In truth, the country was becom- 

* 4 Calderwood, 390. 



ANECDOTES. 17 

ing more civilized and less turbulent, so that war ceased to be the 
chief occupation of those not compelled to till the soil. The 
change in the times was also manifested in the family arrange- 
ments, by which he transgressed the feudal notions of the exclusive 
rights of primogeniture, and in order to favor a mother's partialit}^ 
for a younger son, occasioned the separation of a large section of 
the Menteith or Lanrick estates from those of Gleneagles.* 

His successor, Mungo Haldane, who derived his not very 
euphonious Christian name from the noble house of Murray, was 
a Member of the Scottish Parliament; obtained a charter of his 
lands from Charles II., reciting his own services to the Crown 
and those of his progenitors ; and is mentioned by Nisbet, in 
his account of the gorgeous procession of the Lord Chancellor 
the Duke of Eothes' public funeral in 1681, as bearing the 
banner of his relative, the Earl of Tullibardine, afterwards Mar- 
quis of Athol. 

He died in 1685, and was succeeded by his son, John Haldane, 
who served in the Scottish and British Parliaments for nearly 
forty years, and occupied a conspicuous place in public affairs, 
both at the Revolution and at the Union. 

From the time of Cromwell the change in the history of Scotland 
becomes more decided. The Reformation had been the grand 
crisis of the nation, but, during its glorious progress, there was a 
long and deadly struggle between the despotic tendencies of the 

* This offshoot of the Gleneagles stock only remained at Lanrick for two genera- 
tions. Patrick, the first proprietor, died young, having married Miss Dundas of 
Newliston, who was. through her mother, one of the younger co-heiresses of the 
original stock of Halden of Haldenrig, in the South. The eldest co-heiress of that 
family was married to John, first Earl of Stair, who in her right acquired the lands 
of Newliston. Patrick Haldane left two younger sons, one of whom was a Professor 
at St. Andrew's, and was burned to death whilst reading in bed. John, his eldest, 
took part in the rebellion of 1745, but contrived to escape forfeiture, and returned 
after many years of exile, to die at Lanrick, in 1765, at the age of 85. He survived 
his two sons, but left six daughters, of whom five were married and have numerous 
descendants. Some of the male heirs of Lanrick are said to be still found in the 
north of Scotland. James Oswald, Esq., of Auchencruive, is the male representa- 
tive of the eldest daughter of John Haldane. The Rev. James Haldane Stewart, 
Vicar of Limpsfield, is descended from the Lanrick family, his grandfather, Stewart 
of Ardshiel. who commanded the right wing of the rebel army at Culloden, having 
married a grand-daughter of Patrick. Mr. Stewart of Ardshiel on one occasion 
fought with and disarmed Rob Roy. Sir Walter Scott has borrowed the incidents 
of this adventure in his tale, giving the catastrophe a turn more suited to the dig- 
nity of his hero. It is the scene at the clachan of Aberfoyle. The warlike ances- 
try of the Vicar of Limpsfield strikingly contrasts with the gentleness of his own 
beautiful Christian character. 

2 



18 ANECDOTES. 

Crown, the turbulence of the old feudal Barons, and the civilizing 
influences of advancing Christianity. The strong bond of Protes- 
tantism, with its common dangers and common blessings, had been 
gradually drawing together the great mass of the Christianity, the 
intelligence, and the respectability of the English and Scottish 
nations, for more than a century before its consummation in the 
act of Union of 1707. 

At this period, John Haldane, of Gleneagles, sat as one of the 
four Barons for the county of Perth in the last Scottish Parlia- 
ment. He had been previously representative for Dumbarton- 
shire, and, in 1688, a Member of the Convention Parliament. 
He was also the first Member for the county of Perth in the first 
British House of Commons, and one of the Commissioners for 
settling the equivalents at the Union. He was a man of great 
energy and ability, a good speaker,* and much occupied with 
public affairs. One of his sisters was married to Sir William 
Murray, of Ochtertyre, and another to Mr. Smythe, of Methven. 
He was himself twice married, first to Mary, third daughter of 
David Drummond Lord Maderty, elder brother of the first Vis- 
count Strathallan ; secondly, to Helen, only daughter of Sir 
Charles Erskine, of Alva, ancestor of the Earls of Rosslyn, and 
grandson of John, Earl of Mar. He had a numerous family by 
both marriages. His eldest son, Mungo Haldane, was successively 
M. P. for the counties of Perth and Stirling, and died in 1757, at 
the age of seventy-three, unmarried. He was well remembered 
by a tenant of the Gleneagles estate, who lived to be more than a 
hundred years old, and was known to many of the present gen- 
eration. He used to tell how the Laird put an end to Sunday 
trading in the neighborhood, by means not very consonant with 
the modern voluntary principle. It seems that Sunday trafficking 
was then prevalent in Scotland, in consequence of the packmen, 

* In " Wodrow's Correspondence" we find the following anecdote: — : 'The Sep- 
•' tennial Bill is passed the Commons by a vast plurality.. There is a story here of 
"Mr. Haldane, of Gleneagles, and one Snell, an English gentleman. Mr. Haldane 
" had a very handsome speech in favor of the Bill. Mr. Snell said he did not 
" much wonder to hear that gentleman and others of his nation speak after that 
•' fashion, for their nation was sold and enslaved,— they would have their neighbors 
" so dealt with ; whereon were great heats. Sir David Dalrymple (of Hailes, and 
" grandfather of the celebrated Sir D. Dalrymple, Lord Hailes) said the gentleman 
" who spoke (Mr. Snell) knew well where he spoke, and that the House was his 
"sanctuary. Others said, more plainly, that he durst not speak so without doors. 
"Mr. Snell was brought to the bar, and to crave pardon, May 1st, 1716."— From th ■ 
'• Wodrow Correspondence," vol. ii. p. 165. 



ANECDOTES. 19 

or itinerant hawkers, bringing their goods for sale to the church- 
doors on the Lord's da}'. As chief magistrate in the neighbor- 
hood, the Baron of Gleneagles issued an order prohibiting the 
practice. On the following Sunday he did not happen himself 
to go to Blackford Church, but, meeting his servants returning, 
he inquired whether the packmen had obeyed his mandate. 
Being informed that they had not, the old tenant used to tell, 
with great emphasis, how "the Laird clapped his hand on his 
sword," and declared that, if he lived over another Sabbath, he 
would make the packmen repent of their perverseness. Accor- 
dingly, on the following Sunday, he himself went to the church, 
and, finding the packmen assembled as usual and spreading out 
their goods for sale, he drew out his sword and scattered them in 
an instant. Having pursued them down the hill, as they fled in 
trepidation before the irate and portly Baron, he returned to the 
church-gates and tossed their wares into the adjoining lake. This 
exercise of a" rigor beyond the law," which in those days was 
not very nicely weighed, had the desired effect, and Sunday 
trading has never been again attempted near Gleneagles, from 
that day to the present. Mungo Haldane was succeeded by his 
next brother, Patrick, an able, active and bustling politician, who, 
in his youth, was Professor of History at St. Andrew's; then 
M. P. for the St. Andrew's Burghs ; then Solicitor-General ; a 
Koyal Commissioner for selling the forfeited estates ; and at one 
time appointed a Lord of Session.* He survived for ten years 
his only son, Brigadier-General George Haldane, of the Guards, 
who was also Member of Parliament for the Dundee and Forfar 
Burghs, and died, in 1759, Governor of Jamaica. 

Many ancient Scottish families were ruined by the change in 
their style of living and expenditure, consequent on being called 

* This appointment was made in 1721, during his father's life-time, and gave rise 
to a curious law-suit as to the right of the Crown to appoint a Judge or Senator of 
the College of Justice, " without the concurrence of the College itself." The mat- 
ter was carried by appeal to the House of Lords (See •'' Robertson's Appeal Cases," 
422), and decided in favor of the Crown ; but Patrick Haldane's right was not 
insisted on, and he received another appointment. He was objected to as not 
being a practising advocate, but the pamphlets which appeared on the occasion, 
one of them attributed to the celebrated Duncan Forbes, of Culloden, indicate 
strong political and personal rancor. Mr. Patrick Haldane is, amongst other 
things, not only charged with bribery at his elections, but with having induced 
his younger brother, James Haldane, then under age, the grandfather of the sub- 
jects of this memoir, to assist in carrying off and imprisoning hostile voters, on 
pretended charges of high treason and Jacobitism. 



20 THEIR FATHER. 

to attend a Parliament, sitting in London instead of Edinburgh. 
Patrick Haldane's electioneering expenses, and those of his 
son, had not been compensated by their public appointments. 
When, in the same year he succeeded his elder brother, and 
survived his son, he found himself encumbered with debt and 
unable to retain his estates with comfort. Under these circum- 
stances Gleneagles, being unentailed, might have passed, like 
Lanrick, entirely out of the family, had it not been purchased 
by a younger brother of the half-blood, who had just returned 
from India with a large fortune, being the first Scotchman who 
ever commanded an East India Company's ship. This Captain 
Kobert Haldane married a daughter of Sir John Oglander, of 
Nunwells, in the Isle of Wight, and becoming himself M. P. for 
the Stirling Burghs, is referred to in the letters of Junius. He 
died at Airthrey, on the 1st of January, 1768, without leaving 
any surviving issue, and was buried at Gleneagles, by his own desire, 
under the shade of four majestic spruce-firs, which he had him- 
self planted in front of the old chapel near the ruins of the castle. 
His elder brother was still living at his death, as well as his 
nephew, Captain James Haldane, the only son of another brother. 
But Captain Eobert having acquired both the estates of Airthrey 
and Gleneagles by purchase, unfettered by any entail, they were 
entirely at his own disposal, and he determined to divide them. 
To Captain James Haldane, who had acquired a fortune of his 
own, and was averse to a residence on the northern side of the 
Ochils, he left the estate of Airthrey, with its southern exposure, 
beautifully sloping down into the Carse of Stirling, charged with 
a debt of 14,000?. ; whilst the lands of Gleneagles and of Trinity 
Gask, charged with the remainder of his debts, were, in the first 
instance, entailed on the male descendants of his two sisters of 
the full blood, with remainder "to my Nephew, Captain James 
Haldane, of the Duke of Albany East Indiaman." It was thus 
upon condition of merging his own name and arms, and assuming 
those of Haldane, that George Cockburn, only son of Mrs. Mar- 
garet Cockburn, of the family of Ormistown, in East Lothian, 
succeeded to Gleneagles, but on his death and the failure of his 
male issue, in 1799, it devolved on the celebrated Admiral 
Viscount Duncan, as being then the eldest surviving son of the 
entailer's other sister of the full blood, Helen Haldane, wife of 
Alexander Duncan, of Lundie, and also the maternal grandmother 
of the subjects of these Memoirs. 



THEIR MOTHER. 21 

Their father was the only son of Colonel James Haldane, who 
married Margaret Pye, a lady belonging to a well-connected 
family then resident in the county of Durham, some of whom 
held considerable preferment in the Church of England. 

Colonel James Haldane, like the rest of his generation, was a 
man of great stature and physical strength, and served from 
1715 to 1741 in that squadron of the Royal Horse now known 
as the 2d Regiment of Life Guards. He died at sea on the 9th 
December, 1742, near Jamaica, on the Carthagena expedition, in 
command of General Guise's regiment of Infantry. 

On the 15th December, 1762, their only son, Captain James 
Haldane, married his first cousin, Katherine, daughter of Alex- 
ander Duncan, of Lundie, and Helen Haldane, commonly called 
Lady Lundie, by the courtesy of Scotland then allowed to the 
wife of a minor baron. Of this marriage there were three chil- 
dren ; namely — 1, Robert, who succeeded his father in the estate 
of Airthrey; 2, Helen, born in 1765, who died in childhood; 
and, 3, James Alexander Haldane, his youngest and posthumous 
son. 



FROM THEIR BIRTH TO THE DEATH OF THEIR MOTHER. 

[1764—1774.] 

The family history of six centuries and more than twenty 
generations, has been compressed into a very narrow space in 
the foregoing pages. Such matters have in them more of private 
curiosity than public interest. The quality or exploits of a 
remote ancestry belong to the passing things of time, and are but 
bubbles on its rapid stream, rolling down into the gulfs of 
oblivion. But the character, the instructions, the example, and 
the prayers of Christian parents, belong to the things that are 
immortal, on which God himself has been often pleased to sus- 
pend the destinies of children. The means as well as the end 
are under the control of Him who gives no account of his mat- 
ters, but determines all things by the council of his own will. 
Occasionally He sees fit, in a wonderful and unexpected manner, 
to assert the sovereignty of his electing grace ; yet for the most 
part it will be found, that He works by instruments, and puts 
especial honor on the use of his own appointed ordinances. It 
was the privilege of the two brothers to be enabled, practically to 



22 THEIR FATHER'S CHARACTER. 

sympathize with the sentiments expressed in the noble lines of 
Cowper, when he exclaims — 

" My boast is not, that I deduce my birth 
From loins enthroned, or rulers of the earth, 
But higher far my proud pretensions rise, 
The son of parents passed into the skies !" 

Of their father, Captain James Haldane, his elder son knew but 
little, and the younger nothing, except from the testimony of 
others. He is reported to have been a man of much worth, of 
popular manners, good sense, and ability, who was generally 
respected and beloved. It is related of him, that at sea he was 
remarkable for his attention to moral discipline, and particularly 
for putting down profane swearing in his ship. The late Mr. 
Scrimgeour, of Tealing, and a son of Mr. Callender, of Craig- 
forth, who both sailed with him, used to tell how he cured his 
midshipmen of this profane and, as it has been justly termed, 
" profitless vice," by compelling any one who thus transgressed 
to carry a clog fastened around his ankle for the remainder of the 
watch. He was also more particular than was then common at 
sea, in accustoming the young men to act like gentlemen, and 
when inculcating the duty of politeness, would jocularly remark, 
that he had himself spoiled a laced hat in taking it off to two 
French officers, whom he had brought home as prisoners from 
India, during Lord Olive's wars. He completed his last voyage 
at the close of 1767, and was on the eve of being elected an East 
India Director, when an inflammatory sore-throat, said to have 
been improperly treated, and ending in violent fever, carried him 
off, after a few days' illness, on the 30th June, 1768. He died 
whilst on a visit to his father-in-law, at the old house of Lundie 
(now Camperdown), near Dundee, where he had arrived a few 
days before. When asked, shortly before his death, as to his 
hopes for eternity, his reply, "I have full confidence in Jesus," 
indicated the simplicity as well as the sincerity of his faith. His 
attached and afflicted widow was not, therefore, left to sorrow as 
those without hope, but it was a severe shock to her health, and 
brought on her confinement nearly two months before it was ex- 
pected. It took place at Dundee, on the 14th of July, just a 
fortnight after her bereavement, and, combining the name of 
the husband whom she had lost, with that of her father, who sur- 
vived, she called her infant son James Alexander. 



THEIR MOTHER'S CHARACTER. 23 

In order to be near her parents, Mrs. Haldane took up her 
residence at Dundee, in a house which belonged to the celebrated 
rge Dempster, so well known as a leading Member of Parlia- 
ment, and the friend of Mr. Fox, who had named him as one of 
the Commissioners of his famous India Bill. It was a large, old 
baronial mansion, now pulled down, pleasantly situated in a gar- 
den sloping down to the Tay. An ancient and well-remembered 
pear-tree, which still remains, was visited by her younger son not 
many years before his death. 

Mrs. Haldane belonged to a family in which there had been 
much true relisrion.* Her father was distinguished as a strenu- 
ous supporter of the Protestant succession, and, as Provost of 
Dundee, did good service to the Government during the 
rebellion in 1745. Towards the close of his life he left the fine 
old family residence at Lundie Castle, to reside nearer the town, 
at Gourdie House, a name for which his eldest son substituted 
that of Lundie, but which was destined to be again changed to 
Camperdown upon the erection of a new and splendid edifice by 
his grandson. His second daughter, Mrs. Haldane, was herself a 
decided Christian. "She lived," said her eldest son, "very near 
to God, and much grace was given to her." When left a widow, 
it became her chief concern to bring up her children in "the 
nurture and admonition of the Lord." From their infancy she 
labored to instil into their minds a sense of the importance of 
eternity, particularly impressing upon them the necessity of 
prayer, and teaching them to commit to memory and understand 
psalms, portions of the shorter catechism, and of Scripture. 

"Her instructions," says her youngest son, in a memorandum 
found amongst his papers, "were so far useful, that even when 

* An ancestor of the Lundie family, William Lundie, of Sea Side, left in his own 
handwriting a narrative of his remarkable preservation from shipwreck in the 
North Seas in 1631. after being tossed about for forty days in a small boat. He 
thus begins : — !: My Lord God has put it into my heart to leave a record, how that 
'• he has been so extraordinarily merciful to me by sea and land, — how in many 
: ' dangers, and from many perils, he did work my deliverance, and particularly in 
• : that miraculous one hereafter described ; that my successors may think on it. and. 
,! with God's assistance, it may be a mean to teach them to be humble and thankful 
" to God for having so protected and preserved me, and made his fatherly love in so 
" many ways known to me." At the conclusion of the narrative he mentions his 
first meeting with his grandfather after his escape, and then with his mother, and 
adds, " Who was very glad to see me, and thanked my Lord God for my preser- 
'" vation, who has been ever since very gracious to me. Blessed be his name, and 
" the praises which I give are due unto him, desiring all those who shall succeed me 
1 not to be unthankful to God for his great mercies." 



24 MATERNAL INSTRUCTIONS. 

"she was not present I made a conscience of prayer. "What she 
11 said concerning sin and punishment also produced a considera- 
ble impression on mj mind. I was desirous of avoiding sin, 
"yet frequently committed those sins to which children are 
"particularly exposed. I well knew that this was wrong, and 
"having been told that infants would go to heaven, I regretted 
"that I had not died before I had sense to discern what was 
"wrong."' 

He proceeds: "My mother died when I was very young, I 
"believe under six, yet I am convinced that the early impression 
"made on my mind by her care was never entirely effaced; and 
"to this, as an eminent means in the hand of God, I impute any 
"serious thoughts which, in the midst of my folly, would some- 
" times intrude upon my mind, as well as that still small voice of 
"conscience, which afterwards led me to see that all below was 
"vanity without an interest in that inheritance which can never 
"fadeaway." He adds: "I mention this more particularly, be- 
cause it may lead Christian parents to sow in hope the seed of 
" Divine truth in the minds of their children, and may prevent 
" their considering their efforts unavailing, even where the things 
" which they have taught seem to have been uttered in vain. Xo 
" means of grace is, I apprehend, more, perhaps none is so much, 
"countenanced of Grod as early religious instruction."' 

The instructions of this devoted mother were not weakened or 
counteracted, as often happens, by apparent inconsistency. Her 
life was a life of practical godliness and of cheerful trust in 
the Saviour. Often when she had seen her children in bed, and 
supposed that they were asleep, she was overheard by them, and 
particularly by her elder son, on her knees by their bed-side, 
earnestly praying that the Lord would be pleased to guide them 
through that world which she felt that she was herself soon to 
leave; that their lives might be devoted to His service upon 
earth ; and, finally, that they might be brought to His everlasting 
kingdom. 

She died in 1774, of an attack of illness commencing with a 
cold which she caught when on a visit at Ferntower, near Crieff. 
Her medical attendant, Dr. Willison, although himself an avowed 
unbeliever, emphatically declared that such a death-bed was 
enough to make one in love with death. It was another obser- 
vation of the same physician, himself the son of the celebrated 
divine of the same name, and a melancholy example of his own 



THEIR MOTHER'S DEATH. 25 

remark, that grace was a very extraordinary moral phenomenon ; 
that there was no doubt either of its existence or of its influence, 
or of the fact that it ran in families ; but that it resembled certain 
constitutional diseases which are hereditary, and yet overleap 
particular generations. He was thus, in effect, bearing an unwill- 
ing testimony to the degenerating tendencies of our fallen and 
corrupt nature, as well as to the unfettered sovereignty and 
electing love of God. Shortly before she expired she was 
asked if she would like once more to see her children, but she 
declined, saying that it would only agitate her; that she had 
been enabled implicitly to surrender them into the hands of 
God, and she would rather leave them there. Her faith was 
strong, not only for herself, but for them ; and that faith was not 
disappointed. 

She was buried in her husband's grave, at Lundie, in the burial- 
place of the Duncans, next to the vault where the ashes of her 
brother, the great Admiral, now also repose. The church-yard 
is situated in a retired and romantic spot on the slope of one ex- 
tremity of the Sidlaw range, just below the Hill of Lundie, from 
whose commanding summit the eye wanders over one of the most 
extensive and picturesque prospects of varied magnificence and 
beauty. The Carse of Gowrie on the one side, and Strathmore 
on the other, with an array of castles, towns, churches, planta- 
tions, lakes, and streams, are bounded to the east by the ocean, 
to the south by the Lowland hills, and to the north-west by the 
wooded mountains of Dunkeld, Athol, and Braemar. 



FROM THEIR MOTHER'S DEATH, IN 1774, TO THEIR GOING TO SEA. 

[1774—1785.] 

When death, which had previously robbed them of the guardian- 
ship of a father, now deprived them of the tender solicitude of 
their mother, the three children were scarcely old enough fully to 
appreciate the extent of their loss. The elder brother was ten 
years old, his younger scarcely six, whilst their only sister was 
eight. The union of parent and child is a bond, of which it has 
been finely said, by a celebrated orator, that it strengthens with 
life, acquires vigor from the understanding, and is sealed and 
rendered perfect in the community of love. Once severed, it is a 
tie too sacred and holy to be replaced. But, in the present be- 



26 THEIR EDUCATION. 

reavement, there were several compensations to be found in the 
paternal watchfulness, the unremitting affection, and the superior 
qualifications of the kind relatives who undertook the guardian- 
ship of the youthful orphans. 

Their grandmother, Lady Lundie, had, after her husband's 
death, resided with her daughter on the banks of the Tay, at 
Dundee. She had been, in her younger years, famed for her 
beauty, not only in Scotland, but in the gay circles of Bath, at 
the period of its greatest renown. From these scenes of pleasura- 
ble excitement she had, however, long retired, and at the time 
of her daughter's death the care of her grandchildren became her 
chief occupation during the peaceful retirement of her remaining 
years. Her eldest son, John, a young man of great promise, died 
early, in China, in the service of the East India Company. Her 
next son, Colonel Alexander Duncan, married his second cousin, 
Miss Smythe, of Methven, but had no family, and was now a war- 
worn veteran, retired from the army, after having earned consider- 
able distinction by his good and gallant service in the rebellion 
in 1745, in the campaigns on the Continent, and in Canada. His 
younger brother, Adam, afterwards Viscount Duncan, had also 
served for more than a quarter of a century in different parts of 
the world. At this time, and until the breaking out of a new 
war, he was enjoying the repose of peace, and, with his mother, 
resided in Mrs. Haldane's house and managed all her affairs. 

Both of the uncles had seen much of the world, and therefore 
knew more of the value of a good education than most of the 
Scottish aristocracy of that period. The learning of the two boys 
was well attended to. At home they had a superior resident 
tutor, the Keverend Dr. Fleming, who afterwards became one of 
the ministers of Edinburgh ; and they were also sent to the gram- 
mar-school at Dundee, that they might at the same time mingle 
with other boys, and profit by the stimulus of competition. Little 
James was destined for the sea, and it was important to push him 
forward in his education ; but his progress was speedily arrested 
by a dangerous fever, which long confined him to the house, and 
of which he nearly died. An anecdote concerning him, which 
relates to this period, used to be told by his aunt, Lady Duncan. 
He was a boy of great spirit, and recited poetry with much of 
sentiment and animation. The Admiral had taught him, amongst 
other things, to repeat the celebrated speech of Cassius, in Addi- 
son's "Cato," beginning: — • 



THEIR SISTER'S DEATH. 27 

" My voice is still for war ! 
What ! can a Roman Senate long debate 
Which of the two to choose,— slavery or death?" 

To enable him to give due effect to this piece of declamation, 
which certainly does not altogether accord with the views of the 
Peace Society, his nncle was accustomed to place him on a side- 
table, and, after his task had been accomplished, make him jump 
down. During the delirium of his fever, whenever the Admiral 
came to see him he immediately started up, and began, with great 
emphasis, 

" My voice is still for war !" 

In the year 1776 his sister's health, which had never been 
strong, finally gave way. It was customary in those days, as it 
now is in Switzerland, to resort to places in the country "for the 
goat's whey." During Mrs. Haldane's lifetime she had for one 
summer occupied the house of Kinnaird, in Strath-Tay, near 
Dunkeld.* Lady Lundie took her grand-daughter for the same 
reason to the Kallender of Crieff, in Strathearn, where she hired 
a house, near Ochtertyre, the residence of Sir William Murray, 
to whom she was doubly related, both as a Haldane and a Dun- 
can. Whilst residing here they were much at Ochtertyre ; and 
the two boys found great enjoyment, in riding about on their 
ponies, or, attended by their tutor, in fishing for perch in the 
lovely lake of Monivaircl, embosomed amidst the hanging woods 
and romantic hills which embellish those beautiful pleasure- 
grounds. The renowned General, Sir George Murray, was then 
a boy, under five years of age, probably dreaming as little of 
those fields of blood in which he was afterwards to be engaged, as 
did his young cousins of the more peaceful warfare they were to 
accomplish. 

The two boys were much attached to their drooping sister, and 
it was long remembered how young James, whose warm, affec- 
tionate disposition was remarked from his boyhood, never took his 
ride without dismounting to gather for her the blue-bells and the 

* Her elder son had here a narrow escape from being kicked to death. One of 
the carriage horses was rather violent in the stable, and, knowing this, in a sportive 
mood he put down a stick from the loft and touched it on the back. The animal 
was so much excited, that he plunged and kicked till the loose flooring of the loft, 
being very low, was shaken to pieces, and the youthful author of this piece of mis- 
chief was himself knocked about like a ball, and expected every moment to fall 
down amongst the horses. Providentially he was unhurt. 



28 DEATH OF THEIR GRANDMOTHER. 

cotton-flowers, growing on the wild heaths and moors of Strath- 
earn. A little while before Helen's death, she was taken to Ed- 
inburgh by her aunt, Miss Duncan, for medical advice, but it was 
of no avail. She died on the 11th of July, 1776. The Admiral 
was with them at the time, and Colonel Duncan was sent for, so 
that once more, at their early age, the orphan boys stood beside 
their two uncles at another funeral, when their only and much 
loved sister was committed to the dust, in the vault of the Mur- 
ray s, in the ancient and romantic churchyard of Monivaird, which 
is now included in the park of Ochtertyre, and, with its little 
chapel, is exclusively used as the mausoleum of the family.* 

There is a story concerning their boyhood which belongs to 
this period. They were spending a day at Ferntower with their 
uncle and tutor, who were together, when the Admiral, turning 
towards the window, suddenly started up with an exclamation of 
mingled alarm and indignation. It happened that his carriage 
was standing before the door, although the horses had been taken 
out. Dr. Fleming had been instructing his pupils in the mysteries 
of the ancient battering-ram and catapulta. There was a steep 
bank in front, and a garden- wall below, which presented a most 
inviting object on which to try an experiment. With consider- 
able exertion the two boys had turned the carriage round, and 
having given to the pole a suitable direction for a point blank 
charge, were just in the act of launching it down the precipitous 
declivity, when their uncle descried their danger and that of his 
own carriage. It was too late to avoid the catastrophe ; the 
chariot rolled down the bank with all the majesty of an engine of 
war, acquiring increased velocity at every step, and did the work 
of a battering-ram with so much effect, as to dash through the 
wall in an instant. Happily a broken pole was the total amount 
of the actual damage, besides the displacement of some masonry 
or brickwork. 

In the following year they lost their kind grandmother, Lady 
Lundie, who was rather suddenly taken from them, at an advanced 
age, in May, 1777. In the same year Lord Duncan married the 
daughter of the Lord President Dundas, a lady the remembrance 
of whose charming vivacity, warm-hearted kindness, and many 
admirable qualities, the two brothers cherished with the grateful 
feelings of almost filial affection. Her friendship they enjoyed to 

* The modern church of Monivaird is now situated at a considerable distance 
from the old churchyard. 



CONTEMPORARIES. 29 

the close of her long and happy life in December, 1832, and dur- 
ing many of her later years, it was the privilege, especially of her 
younger nephew, to minister to her spiritual comfort. After the 
marriage, it was necessary to make new arrangements, and the 
house in Dundee having been relinquished, it was determined 
that the two boys should go to the High School of Edinburgh. 
Accordingly, in September, 1777, they were boarded with the 
Rector of the High School, the celebrated Dr. Adam, the author 
of the "Roman Antiquities," and other valuable works. His 
house was in Charles-street, fronting the entrance into George- 
square, and overlooking the large mansion with the court in front, 
afterwards Lord Duncan's, but then occupied by the Lord Advo- 
cate, the Right Hon. Henry Dundas, the first Lord Melville. In 
a letter written many years afterwards, by Mr. James Haldane to 
his son, he says, " I have told you of Lord Melville, how, in win- 
" ter, Dr. Adam, when he called your uncle and myself in the 
" morning, used to point to his candle, burning in the room, where 
"he had been laboring for a couple of hours before we were 
"awake." There were along with them at Dr. Adam's several 
other boarders, also attending the High School, some of whom 
became publicly known, such as the Earl of Rossmore, General 
Sir William Erskine, who commanded the cavalry in Spain ; two 
Yandeleurs, one of whom became a titled General, and the other 
an Irish Judge ; also the eldest son of Lord Decies, then Arch- 
bishop of Tuam, George Ramsay of Barnton, &c. 

Robert at once joined the fifth or Rector's class in the High 
School, James (although more than four years younger) the third 
class, then taught by Mr. French, a pious and estimable man, with 
whom he remained till August, 1779, when he, too, reached the 
fifth or highest class, according to the Scottish mode of reckoning, 
where the lowest is the first, instead of being the highest, as in 
the great English public schools. 

There were at the High School several contemporaries, who 
afterwards became distinguished in the fields of literature, law, or 
politics. Boys of all ranks, from the sons of the noble to the sons 
of the tradesman, were there associated. There were also two 
with whom both the brothers were afterwards to be connected in 
the religious movement in Scotland, but with neither of them had 
they at the time any personal acquaintance. The one was the 
well-known Mr. John Campbell, the African Missionary, who 
used graphically to describe the time when he first saw his future 



30 ANECDOTE. 

friend and fellow-laborer, James Haldane, then buoyant with life 
and frolic, an energetic and high-spirited boy, ever foremost in the 
race of fan and frolic. The other was Mr. Greville Ewing, the 
son of a respectable teacher of mathematics in Edinburgh. Mr. 
Campbell, who was born in 1766, was in the class of Mcholl, the 
friend of Burns, and a partaker both of Burns' genius and vices ; 
Mr. Ewing, although fifteen months older, was in the same class 
with James Haldane, consisting probably of nearly an hundred 
boys, placed in order, according to their respective merits. Mr. 
Ewing, in spite of an interrupted education, afterwards became, 
chiefly through his own exertions, esteemed for his scholarship, 
but at that time he only occupied a place about the middle of 
Mr. French's class. James Haldane was near the head, a position 
which does not always guarantee the same superiority in after-life, 
although it is no doubt indicative of natural quickness. In noti- 
cing their course of study, it would be unjust to omit the name of 
their French master, Mr. Cauvin, more usually named Mr. Gavin, 
who died some years ago, leaving a large sum of money to found 
an hospital at Duddingstone, where he resided. With him they 
were favorite pupils, and after they left the High School were 
accustomed to go to his residence, and make very agreeable 
excursions with him, when nothing but French was spoken. 

On the Saturdays, Sundays, and other casual holidays, the two 
brothers had a happy home at Nellfield, near Edinburgh, where 
their uncle then resided, until the war again summoned him to 
sea. Their long vacation was spent at Lundie House. 

In connection with their visits to Nellfleld, there is a little 
anecdote which is indicative of the manners of the times, and also 
used to furnish some amusement. When James Haldane hap- 
pened to be walking out to his uncle's, he was overtaken by a 
young minister on horseback, who asked him where he was going. 
With great simplicity, the boy replied, " To Nellfield," which 
sounding very much like Melville, the minister supposed, from 
the nearness of their age, that the young gentleman was the son 
of the great dispenser of Scottish patronage, both lay and ecclesi- 
astical, and was going to Melville Castle, near Lasswade. He 
was immediately invited to mount behind the saddle, according 
to the fashion of the day, when there were few wheeled vehicles, 
and was thus very pleasantly conveyed along the road. Arriving 
at the gate of Nellfield, James informed his conductor that they 
must now part. The disappointment manifested was inexplicable 



ROBERT JOIN'S THE MONARCH. 31 

to the unsophisticated mind of a bo}^, but the story amused his 
friends, and was probably enjoyed by none more than by that 
busy statesman, from whom both of the brothers received much 
kind notice, and who had himself so deeply studied human nature, 
and so well understood the springs of influence. 

In his boyhood it was for several years the desire of Robert 
Ilaldane to fit himself for the ministry in the Church of Scotland, 
and at Lundie House he used regularly every Sunday to exhibit 
this inclination by addressing, or, as it might be called, preaching 
to the domestics in the servants' hall. This might be considered, 
perhaps, as rather savoring of boyish sport, but he himself spoke 
of it far otherwise near the close of his life, and stated, that from 
the time when he was nine years old, he had more or less of 
serious convictions as to the things of God. It was also a fre- 
quent custom of the two boys, after they had retired to bed, to 
converse together about the things to which their departed mother 
had attached so much importance, and this habit was, no doubt, 
in itself beneficial to both, tending to cherish in their hearts a 
hidden spark of love to Jesus Christ and the things of heaven. 
But whatever were his inclinations as to the ministry, it was then 
deemed quite contrary to ordinary usage in Scotland, that one of 
his fortune and position should become a minister. He himself 
was probably easily persuaded on the point, more especially as 
the exploits of his uncle kindled in his breast a desire to follow 
him into the navy and share in the glories of the ocean. The 
result was, that, rather abruptly leaving his studies at the College 
of Edinburgh early in 1780, he joined the Monarch at Portsmouth. 

The departure of his uncle and aunt from the vicinity of Edin- 
burgh, followed by that of his brother, were circumstances of 
disadvantage as well as discomfort to James. In the memoran- 
dum from which we have already quoted, and which will be 
again referred to, he marks this period as one from which he 
began more openly to depart from an outward attention to per- 
sonal religion. 

In 1779-80 and 1780-1 James passed through the Eector's 
class, remaining there two years. He was reckoned a clever, 
shrewd boy, observant, and of quick perception, possessing a 
retentive memory and the capacity of application, although his 
love of adventurous sport strongly preponderated, whether it was 
exhibited in his dangerous rambles on the Salisbury Craigs, 
climbing what was termed the " Cat's nick" in summer, or, dur- 



32 JOUENEY TO GOSPOET. 

ing the winter, in skating at Duddingstone or Lochend. Although 
younger than the generality of the boys of his standing in the 
school, his usual place during his last year at the Eector's class 
was about third, but on the final adjustment of places the industry 
of some of those usually below him, and his own indifference on 
the subject, made him only seventh. When Dr. Adam, before 
the public examination, went through his usual plan of asking 
the upper boys if they were satisfied with their places, he put the 
same question to James Haldane, and being answered in the 
affirmative, the Eector very significantly shook his head, and 
remarked, that if he were satisfied, it was not much to his credit. 
Two or three years before, when he was under Mr. French, Dr. 
Adam met him in the street returning from school, and proposed 
to give him the pleasure of accompanying him to some show or 
exhibition. But observing that his clothes had been soiled in the 
boisterous amusements of the High School yards, the Eector re- 
proved his little pupil, and said that he did not himself choose to 
be seen in such company. Before dismissing the boy, he asked, 
however, what was his place in his class, and being told that he 
was Dux, or first, the enthusiasm of the learned Eector was kin- 
dled, and affectionately grasping the hand of his scholar, he 
exclaimed, " I would walk with you although you were clothed 
in rags !" 

In 1781-2 he went to the College, and for three sessions con- 
tinued, under the observation of Dr. Adam, to attend the different 
professors of Greek, Latin, mathematics, logic, metaphysics, and 
natural philosophy, in their usual order. 

In 1783 Colonel Duncan took him to London, on a visit to 
Gosport, where the future Admiral resided for five years with his 
family, during the peace, in command of the Edgar guardship. 
The interest of the journey, which in those days was a formidable 
affair, with the novelty of a new country and new places, became 
enhanced by the spectacle of a remarkable meteor which then 
passed over England. After seeing the wonders of the great me- 
tropolis, they proceeded to Gosport, where an acquaintance was 
begun with the great and good Dr. Bogue. which ripened into 
Christian friendship, only terminating with death. 

It was the wish of both his uncles that he should enjoy the ad- 
vantage of seeing as much as possible of their own country before 
going to sea. Accordingly it was arranged, that in August, 1784, 
Dr. Adam should take James Haldane, and his schoolfellow, the 



TOUR THROUGH THE NORTH OF ENGLAND. 33 

late George Eamsay, of Barnton, on a tour through the North of 
England. They travelled on horseback, and the commencement 
of their journey was rather auspicious, for, stopping at Hadding- 
ton, they accidentally made acquaintance with a gentleman of the 
name of Haldane, who, although an entire stranger, was so much 
pleased with his young namesake, that he presented him with a 
very handsome and well-bred horse, in order that he might not 
be worse mounted than young Eamsay, who had been furnished 
by his uncle, who was then the Tattersall of Scotland. 

They travelled by Berwick, Newcastle, York, and Hull, into 
Derbyshire, returning by Lancashire and Cumberland to Edin- 
burgh. They were accompanied on this tour by the Eev. Dr. 
Macknight, the well-known commentator, whose practical disre- 
gard of the Lord's-day made a deep impression on James Haldane. 
Although Dr. Adam was not an enlightened man in spiritual 
things, and then attended the very moderate teaching of the min- 
ister of St. Cuthbert's Chapel-of-Ease, yet he had been accustom- 
ed to reverence the outward symbols of religion. But when they 
had crossed the border, and arrived in an Episcopalian country, 
Dr. Macknight persuaded his learned friend that, being now out 
of the bounds of Presbytery, and under no obligation to counte- 
nance Prelatical worship, it would be very absurd to allow their 
journeying plans to be deranged by the intervention of the Sab- 
bath. This convenient doctrine at first surprised, but at last 
proved very palatable to the young travellers. For a time, Dr. 
Adam felt very much ashamed when they entered a town or vil- 
lage when the church-going bells were calling the people to the 
services of the sanctuary. But these scruples were soon overcome 
by the doughty commentator, who was thus in effect giving a 
practical warning against that frigid scheme of rationalistic Armin- 
ianism which pervades his writings. There was no writer whom 
the two brothers in after-life regarded as a more dangerous cor- 
rupter of the truths of the Gospel. 

On their return to Edinburgh, James Haldane bade farewell to 
Dr. Adam and the house in Charles-street, where he had now 
spent nearly seven years of his life. The months during which 
he remained in Scotland before going to sea in the East India 
service were spent at Lundie House, and the Colonel's unremit- 
ting kindness was always cherished by him with grateful recollec- 
tion. 

He was now in his seventeenth year, and before noticing the 

3 



34 EARLY HISTORY. 

chief incidents in his life at sea, it may be natural to ask, what 
now was his spiritual condition, and what were his prospects as 
to an eternal existence ? 

For a long time after their mother's death, both the brothers 
were much solemnized by a sense of the importance of those 
things which she had so earnestly inculcated. Their sister's death 
had doubtless for a time tended to deepen the impression. When 
they came to Edinburgh they used to be remarked, and even 
laughed at, for their reverence for sacred things. Kobert Hal- 
dane's inclination for the ministry has been already noticed ; and 
two elderly ladies from Durham, who then lived in Edinburgh, 
the cousins of their deceased grandmother, the widow of Colonel 
Haldane, often lamented that young James should be destined for 
so rough a profession as that of a sailor. They did not desire him 
to be a Presbyterian minister, but said that it would be much 
better were he to enter the English Church, to which they them- 
selves belonged, in which he might possibly become a Bishop, 
and added, as interfering with this airy castle, the expression of 
their regret at the death of their brother, who had in his gift an 
excellent preferment, which would have admirably provided for 
their young relative. But whatever appearances of seriousness 
continued for some years, they were not enduring, as will be seen 
from the following extract from the manuscript already quoted : — 

" Till I was twelve years old I continued to pray, go to church, 
•' and read my Bible or other good books on the Sabbath, but it 
" was only from a principle of duty, and was indeed only that 
" kind of bodily exercise which proflteth little. I had no pleasure 
•'in any religious duty, but conscience retained a certain influ- 
•' ence, and made me afraid to give them up. I was well pleased 
k 'if any slight illness, or anything occurred which seemed a suffi- 
" cient excuse to myself for staying at home on the Lord's-day. 
u Indeed, I hardly attended to one word I heard when at church, 
"but only made a form of joining in the different parts of the 
•'worship. Sometimes, however, I had serious thoughts; occa- 
•'sionally, on a Sabbath evening, after reading the Scriptures or 
•'other books, I felt a kind of flow of the natural passions, and 
" had a good deal of pleasure in prayer. This always puffed 
" me up with thoughts that I was very good. But to show how 
•' much I considered prayer as a task, if I had bowed my knee in 
" such a frame as this before supper, I considered it unnecessary 
: ' to pray again when I went to bed. About that time, that text 



THEIR MOTHER'S PRAYERS. 35 

" of Proverbs xxvi. 12, * Seest thou a man wise in his own con- 
" ce.it/ &c, struck me a good deal. I had just been thinking that 
" I was in the right road to heaven, but that text rather cast a 
11 damp upon my hopes, for it seemed to describe my character. 
M I generally used a form of prayer, but when I felt such emotions 
" as I have described, I prayed in such words as occurred. From 
" about 13 to 16, I became more careless, often spending the Sab- 
"bath evenings in idle conversation with my companions, and I 
" was pleased to find my conscience become less and less scrupu- 
" lous. I also began to swear, because, according to the fashion 
" of the times, it seemed to be manly, and except a form of praj^cr, 
11 which I still kept up, every serious idea seemed to have fled. 
11 Some things, however, occurred, which led me back to a kind 
"of decency. Some vexation I met with from a quarrel with 
11 some companions, caused me to pray to God, and I began again 
" to read my Bible on the Sabbath, and completely gave up 
" swearing for a season. They laughed, and I endured some ridi- 
11 cule for thus spending the Sabbath, but the opposition rather 
" confirmed than altered my determination. I do not mention 
" this as any thing praiseworthy ; it certainly proceeded more from 
u pride than any other principle." 

Are we, then, to suppose that the instructions of his sainted 
mother had not fallen like the good seed into good ground ? Had 
it been scattered by the wayside, or on stony ground, or amongst 
thorns, and so perished without yielding fruit ? Had her prayers 
been offered up in vain ? Had the confidence of that faith, which 
burned so bright in the hour of her departure, been on behalf of 
her children a vain trust in the promises of the Gospel ? Had 
she miscalculated the meaning of those declarations made on be- 
half of the offspring of believing, prayerful, and persevering 
parents ? It will be seen that the blossoms of early piety had in- 
deed nearly disappeared, — that they had proved like the early 
cloud and the morning dew. But yet the faithful labors of the 
trustful mother had not been in vain. Her prayers had ascended 
before the mercy-seat, " perfumed with much incense," and were 
registered in heaven. The good seed was only buried, not lost ; 
and by and by, after a long winter, it was destined to spring up 
in "the power of an endless life," instinct with blessings for her 
children and her children's children, nay, for thousands who were 
to receive the Gospel from their voice or from their writings. 



CHAPTEE II. 

[1780—1794.] 

The current of this narrative has conducted the reader down to 
1785, when, in his seventeenth year, James Haldane went to sea. 
It is now time to notice the career of his elder brother, from the 
period when he rather unexpectedly quitted his studies in Edin- 
burgh, and in the spring of 1780, being then too in his seven- 
teenth year, entered the Eoyal Navy. 

The revolt of the American Colonies was the first great public 
event which excited the interest of the two brothers, and even 
the younger used to mention his boyish recollections of the 
excitement, produced by the sudden arrival of the declaration of 
independence, and the prospect of the war with France. It was 
in 1779 that the establishment at Nellfield was broken up, and 
their uncle once more entered on active service. It may easily be 
supposed with what interest his two youthful and affectionate 
nephews followed the history of his exploits; how their ardent 
spirits exulted in the renown he obtained in Kodney's action off 
Cape St. Vincent, where the Monarch, outsailing all the fleet, 
bore the brunt of the engagement, disabling two line-of-battle 
ships and capturing a third; how they sympathized with the 
burning indignation expressed by him, when the Channel fleet 
was afterwards compelled to retreat before- the French, and he 
himself could only " stand looking over the stern gallery of the 
Monarch," sea-sick as well as heart-sick through contending emo- 
tions of shame and vexation. It was shortly after this, that Eobert 
Haldane himself joined the Monarch, and remained in that ship 
until the spring of 1781, when it was ordered to the West Indies, 
and Lord Duncan's health having previously severely suffered 
from the climate of the Ilavannah, he was persuaded to relinquish 
a tropical expedition for active service nearer home. 



THE FOUDROYANT. 37 

Before he was enabled to commission the Blenheim, of 90 guns, 
in order to prevent loss of time, he transferred his nephew to the 
Foudroyant, of 80 guns, commanded by his friend and contem- 
porary, Captain Jervis, the future Earl St. Vincent. 

Of the Foudroyant, Mr. Haldane was accustomed, even in old 
age, to speak with something of youthful enthusiasm. It had 
been captured from the French, and was the finest ship in the 
British Navy. It was not only a model of naval architecture, 
but was gilt to the water's edge ; whilst its height between decks 
was greater than that of the Britannia of 100 guns, which carried 
the flag of the renowned Admiral Barrington, to whose squadron 
it belonged. He used to mention that on visiting the Admiral, 
whose younger brother was the well-known Bishop of Durham, 
and whose elder brother had been one of his father's guardians, 
he found himself obliged to stoop between decks of the flag-ship, 
whilst in the Foudroyant, although standing nearly six feet high, 
he was able to walk upright. 

But a short time after he joined the Foudroyant he was called 
to take part in the celebrated action with the Pegase, which was 
the foundation of all Lord St. Vincent's great fame. It was a 
night engagement. A French fleet of six sail-of-the-line were 
retreating before Admiral Barrington with twelve. The chase 
began at noon on the 19th of April, and the Foudroyant, out- 
sailing all the rest, and leaving them as if at anchor, singled out 
the Pegase at 10 at night, and at 47 minutes past 12, having 
run at the rate of eleven knots an hour, brought her to close 
quarters. The respective forces of the two ships were nearly 
equal; for although the British had six guns more than the 
enemy, yet the latter had sixty more men, with a greater weight 
of metal, carrying forty-pounders on the lower decks, and a crew 
of seven hundred sailors. These particulars Mr. Haldane used to 
say had been omitted in narratives of the action, although Admi- 
ral Barrington's despatch mentions, in general terms, that the two 
combatants were in point of force nearly equal. He often referred 
with pleasure to an instance of his gallant Commander's magna- 
nimity. Just as the ships were about to open their fire, the 
officer on the forecastle called out that the enemy had "put her 
helm up to rake." Captain Jervis instantly exclaimed, " Then 
put the helm a-starboard," meaning to deliver his broadside from 
the starboard guns. At that critical moment one of his midship- 
men, — a friend of Mr. Haldane's, the gallant Bowen, who fell by 



38 CAPTURE OF THE PEGASE. 

the side of Nelson at Teneriffe, — saw that an opposite manoeuvre 
would give to the Foudroyant the advantage of the first fire, and 
enable her to rake, instead of being raked. On the moment, this 
gallant young man, standing by the wheel, called out, "Port, port; 
if we put our helm to port, we shall rake her." His eagerness 
admitted of no denial. The helm was brought to port; the 
broadside of the Foudroyant was poured into the Pegase ; and 
when the smoke cleared off, Captain Jervis, in the enthusiasm 
of the moment, pulled off his hat on the quarter-deck ; and turn- 
ing to the young officer, exclaimed, — " Thanks, Bowen : you 
were right." 

The battle lasted three quarters of an hour ; and the skill as 
well as the zeal which directed the guns under Kobert Haldane's 
charge, attracted the notice of his observant Commander. At 
one time, holding a lantern in his hand, he was seen directing 
the proper elevation of a gun. An old sailor warned him that 
he was making himself a mark for the enemy ; but he indignantly 
repelled the admonition, telling his well-meaning and sensible 
adviser that, in the discharge of duty, he should disdain to think 
of personal danger. At one time the ships almost touched each 
other, and a gunner being asked why he did not withdraw the 
rammer, replied that he could not on account of the Frenchman. 
The gun was discharged with the rammer undrawn. 

After the Pegase was laid on board, and had struck, the ships 
separated ; and it blew so fresh, and there was so much sea, that 
it was with great difficulty and the loss of two boats that an 
officer and eighty men could be sent into the prize and bring off 
forty prisoners. During the action, the watchful eye of the hero 
of St. Vincent had marked the zeal and gallantry of Robert Hal- 
dane, and he indicated his approval by appointing him to accom- 
pany one of the lieutenants who was going to take possession of 
the Pegase, with orders to bring back its commander, Le Chevalier 
Cillart. There was another reason which prompted the selection. 
He had discovered Robert Haldane's talents and attainments, and 
often employed him as his amanuensis, and he was the only 
officer on board who understood French. The duty assigned to 
him was discharged with characteristic courtesy, determination, 
and zeal. On boarding the Pegase, he found the decks floated 
with blood, seven men lying dead at one gun. Having been 
conducted through this scene of slaughter to the. Chevalier, he 
explained the nature of his orders, but the Frenchman protested 



LORD ST. VINCENTS PREDIDICTIOX. 39 

that it was out of the question to get into an open boat in such a 
sea and at such an hour. The necessity of the case was explained, 
the weakness of the captors in point of numbers as compared 
with the vanquished. Still the captain demurred, when the 
lieutenant, who had charge of the prize, by drawing his sword 
added a very significant argument, which fully compensated for 
his inability to express himself in French. The Chevalier then 
submitted, and was conducted safely to the Foudroyant, amidst 
murmurs which promised to bear in mind this treatment when 
he returned to France. 

After the action Sir John Jervis wrote to Captain Duncan, 
congratulating him on the determined spirit and ability of his 
nephew, and predicting that Eobert Haldane would one day be 
an ornament to his country. This prediction was destined to be 
fulfilled in a manner far different from that which the hero of St. 
Vincent then imagined. His renown was not to be won on the 
quarter-deck of a British man-of-war, or amidst such scenes of 
blood as those which had, for the first time, somewhat solemnized 
the exulting joy of the young warrior. But even then, amidst 
the satisfaction derived from the applause of the great officer 
under whom he served, there was one circumstance, the recol- 
lection of which interested his mind during the very last days of 
his mortal career, although sixty long years had elapsed. He 
mentioned that, on that night, on going into action with the 
Pegase, when his heart beat high with ardent zeal, he breathed 
out an earnest prayer to God, that he might now be strengthened 
to discharge his duty as became a British sailor, in defence of his 
country. It was not that he then made any open profession of 
religion, or had any settled or abiding principle of godliness in his 
heart. On the contrary, pride, ambition, the love of distinction, 
and other forms of wordliness, were all in the ascendant. But, 
beneath this heap of rubbish, there was still germinating in the 
hidden recesses of his inmost soul, the incorruptible seed, im- 
planted by a mother's hand, and watered by a mother's prayers. 
Invisible to mortal eye it there existed, and, on such an occasion 
as that of his going for the first time into battle, seemed like a 
spark of life ready to burst out, and make the gallant youth act 
not as a reckless unbeliever, but as a Christian hero. 

After the return of the Foudroyant to Spithead, and during the 
period which elapsed before the relief of Gibraltar, he had frequent 
opportunities of spending much of his time at Gosport, and 



40 LOSS OF THE ROYAL GEORGE. 

attending the ministry of the late David Bogue, whose influence 
on his own mind and that of his brother, both intellectually and 
spiritually, was greatly blessed. Dr. Bogue was a Scotch Pres- 
byterian minister, educated for the Established Church, who 
ultimately settled, in 1778, at Gosport, where he continued until 
his death, in 1825, the pastor of an Independent congregation, 
but still foremost, throughout the land, in all those great objects 
of Christian philanthropy, which marked the close of the eigh- 
teenth century. 

Between 1779 and 1787 Gosport was the head-quarters of Lord 
Duncan. Till the peace of 1783 he was attached to the Channel 
Fleet, successively commanding the Monarch of 74, and the 
Blenheim of 90 guns, and chiefly cruising between Spithead and 
Gibraltar. After the peace, he commanded the Edgar guard-ship 
until he obtained his flag, in 1787. These circumstances are to 
be numbered amongst the providential links in the history of 
both the brothers. It was thus, that they were both brought 
much into contact with Dr. Bogue, to whom they became much 
attached. They attended his ministry, and by him they were 
directed in their course of reading and in their choice of books, 
both on shore and at sea. Thus is it that the Lord is pleased to 
work out his designs of mercy and of love, in a way which we 
cannot comprehend, subordinating all the changes and chances 
of life to the purposes which he has foreordained, leading his 
dependent creatures by a way which they know not, until the 
mystery of God shall be accomplished, and the events which 
seemed only accidental, shall be seen to have been guided by the 
unerring hand of Infinite Wisdom. 

o 

During the summer of 1782, Admiral Barrington's squadron 
was placed under the orders of Earl Howe, whose duty it was to 
protect our shores and our commerce, menaced, as they were, on 
the one hand by the Dutch, and on the other by the French and 
Spanish fleets. Towards the end of the summer preparations 
were made for a great expedition to relieve Gibraltar. At this 
period, when the grand fleet lay at Spithead, Mr. Haldane was a 
witness of the loss of the Koyal George, which happened on the 
29th of August, 1782. On the morning of that memorable day, 
soon after breakfast, he was looking through a telescope, watching, 
with interest, the operation of heeling over of the ship, when, on 
a sudden, it overset, filled, and sunk. There were at least twelve 
hundred souls on board, including women and children, and, in 



RELIEF OF GIBRALTAR. 41 

charge of a boat from tlie Foudroyant, lie was one of the most 
active in picking up and saving the drowning crew. Of those 
who went down not more than three hundred were rescued ; and 
at Portsea and the Isle of Wight so many dead bodies were in- 
terred, that it is calculated that nine hundred must have perished. 
On the next Lord's-day, Dr. Bogue preached a sermon, which 
produced a deep and general impression, from Psalm xxxvi., 
;i Thy judgments are a great deep." 

The state of public affairs at this juncture may be inferred from 
the fact, that the catastrophe of the Royal George was regarded 
as a national calamity, not merely involving the loss of an admiral 
and a gallant crew, but diminishing the strength of the grand 
fleet, then under orders for Gibraltar, and expecting to encounter 
a greatly superior force, belonging to the navies of France and 
Spain. On the 11th of September following, Lord Howe sailed 
with thirty-four ships-of-the-line, besides frigates, and a great con- 
voy of one hundred and forty transports, carrying troops, stores, 
and provisions. The relief of Gibraltar forms one of the most 
striking incidents in that memorable siege, in which the united 
resources of the Bourbons of France and Spain were vainly lavish- 
ed, for the recovery of that celebrated fortress. It was a great 
crisis, and it was generally believed that its reconquest would 
have ruined the influence of Britain to the eastward of the Pillars 
of Hercules, and given to her rivals the command of the Mediter- 
ranean. Lord Howe's fleet was greatly inferior to the enemy. 
But Mr. Haldane, in after-life, used often to dwell on the remark- 
able interposition of Providence, by which he believed that the 
disparity of force was, in some degree, neutralized, and the con- 
\oj enabled to land their supplies. On the 10th of October a 
look-out frigate returned to Lord Howe, with the formidable in- 
telligence that the combined fleets, anchored in Algesiras Bay, 
consisted of fifty sail-of-the-line, besides frigates. On that night 
a sudden and violent tempest scattered and disabled the French 
and Spanish fleet, whilst the British rode secure under the lee of 
the African mountains. Several of the enemy, including somt 
three-deckers, were driven ashore, others were compelled to rur. 
to the eastward, and all were, more or less, damaged ; so that, 
when Captain Curtis arrived from General Elliott on the 12th, he 
was enabled to inform the Admiral,. that there then remained in 
the bay only forty sail-of-the-line, and three of 56 guns. But this 
was not all. On the 13th the enemy put to sea, partly to protect 



42 PROVIDENTIAL OCCURRENCES. 

liis scattered ships, and partly to intercept the British convoy. 
He cleared Europa point, and passed the night 'perfectly becalmed : 
whilst Lord Howe being to the eastward of the rock, taking ad- 
vantage of an easterly wind which sprung up, carried the convoy 
safe into Gibraltar, amidst the cheers and acclamations of the 
garrison. In the perform ance of this manoeuvre the Foudroyant 
was the leading ship, and bore the chief part in the affair. The 
gallant Earl's movement was no doubt masterly, but the storm 
which burst with fury on the combined fleets on the 10th, and 
the calm which paralyzed them on the 12th, together with the 
sudden change of the wind, were all contingencies enabling the 
British to" effect the grand object of the expedition. To those 
who would banish the remembrance of God from their own hearts, 
and exclude the Almighty from the government of His own 
creation, such incidents will appear the result of accident, and a 
reference to an overruling Providence will provoke the smile of 
ridicule. But to those who delight to trace the finger of God in 
the smallest as well as the greatest of human affairs, such facts 
will furnish in after-life, as they did to Mr. Haldane, fresh mat- 
ter of grateful meditation on the character of Him, who is won- 
derful in working, who " holds the winds in his fist, and the 
waters in the hollow of his hands," and who does amongst the in- 
habitants of the earth according to His own good pleasure. 
" Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall 
understand the loving-kindness of the Lord." 

After the relief of Gibraltar, Lord Howe gave orders to return 
from the Straits, but so intent on action were the crew of the 
Yictory that they refused to put round the wheel, and their mur- 
murs almost amounted to open mutiny, until the noble Admiral 
assured them that they should fight in the open seas. An action 
did take place, in which the Foudroyant took part, and in which 
the British loss amounted to 276 in killed and wounded. Sir 
John Jervis was much dissatisfied, and pacing the quarter-deck 
in great excitement, with his hat in his hand, continued to ex- 
claim, "For shame! Lord Howe." But the enemy had ten sail- 
of-the-line more than the British, with friendly ports in case of a 
defeat, whilst Lord Howe was not only inferior in force, but had 
no shelter for damaged or disabled ships. Mr. Haldane used also 
to state, that in passing Lord Howe's orders for closer action from 
ship to ship, some mistake occurred, which caused them to haul 



CHASE OF THE LEOCADIA. 43 

their wind, and so separated the fleets. In the morning the enemy 
did not choose to renew the combat. 

After this affair the fleet sailed for England, and an incident 
occurred which again discovered the young sailor's force of charac- 
ter. The Leocadia, a Spanish sixty-gun ship, was chased by the 
fleet, and the Foudroyant, as usual, far outsailing the rest, was 
rapidly coming up with her, when a signal from Lord Howe in- 
duced Sir John Jervis at once to abandon the chase. It was, 
however, when tlie Foudroyant was carrying a press of canvas in 
pursuit, that Kobert Haldane was ordered to take his post on the 
fore-top-gallant mast, and remain on the look-out till recalled. 
The mast sprung, and as there was no order to descend, he ex- 
pected at every blast to be hurled into the deep. Another mid- 
shipman thought himself justified, under the circumstances, in 
retiring to a safer position. Not so his companion, who remem- 
bered his commander's maxim, "never to make a difficulty" in 
carrying out an order. He therefore heroically remained, as did 
an old seaman, who advised him to lay hold of the lower parts 
of the ropes, so that, in the event of the anticipated plunge, there 
might be a better chance of keeping hold of the mast with *fcheir 
heads uppermost. At this moment there arose a cry of " A man 
overboard!" Sir John Jervis instantly gave an order to shorten 
sail, and then for the first time discovering the perilous situation 
of those on the look-out, they were commanded to come down. 
Those who remember the character of Lord St. Vincent will easily 
imagine the impression produced by the determination with which 
his orders had been obeyed at all hazards. 

On its arrival at Spithead the Foudroyant was paid off, and 
Sir John Jervis was appointed to commission the Salisbury, of 
fifty guns, and to hoist his broad pennant as Commodore of a 
squadron, bound on an expedition, intended to combine a voyage 
round the world for purposes of discovery, with an attack on the 
Spanish settlements in South America. Kobert Haldane was one 
of those whom he expressly selected to accompany him, as a young 
man of whom he entertained high expectations, and whose servi- 
ces he valued both on the deck and in his cabin. Long before 
this Sir John Jervis had won his regard, and when the fleet sailed 
for Gibraltar he had declined his uncle's kind proposal to remove 
to the Blenheim, justly considering that the comforts of being 
with a relation were counterbalanced by its necessary disadvan- 
tages. 



4A QUITS THE NAVY. 

The peace put an end to the South American expedition. The 
Salisbury went to Newfoundland, but not under Sir John Jervis, 
who, for a time, retired into private life. Mr. Haldane made this 
voyage, but having no longer the promise of immediate promo- 
tion, returned in the ^Eolus frigate to Lisbon, and thence rejoined 
his uncle at Gosport. 

All incitement to enterprise being thus withdrawn, he bade 
adieu to a service to which he was enthusiastically attached to 
the very last. Even to the end of his career, nearly sixty years 
after his retirement, it was interesting to observe how easily his 
youthful predilections seemed to revive when the British navy 
was the topic of conversation. To everything which concerned 
its efficiency, as an arm of national defence, or the moral welfare 
and comforts of sailors, his sympathies were always alive. He 
was never an egotist, and talked little of his own exploits, even 
to his nearest relations. But there were occasions when, in the 
confidence of friendly intercourse, he might be drawn on to 
speak of his adventures at sea ; — how he had been on one occa- 
sion reproved by a lieutenant for taking the wheel from the 
helmsman, and how Sir John Jervis, ascertaining that it was in 
order to learn to steer, applauded his zeal, and issued orders 
that all the midshipmen should take their turn at the wheel ; 
how he was employed as the amanuensis of his captain ; or how, 
in his uncle's ship, when pursuing some French men-of-war, the 
Monarch, outsailing the rest of the fleet, got into the midst of a 
convoy, but the discipline of the ship was such, that boats were 
let down on each side without swamping, filled with armed crews 
to take possession of the prizes, whilst the Monarch never slack- 
ened her speed, but with studding-sails set, bore down on the 
flying ships of war. 

When the subject of manning the navy was in 1840 so promi- 
nently brought before the public by Admiral Hawker, writing 
under the signature of " A Flag Officer," he read and made notes 
on his pamphlets, and used to say that undermanning was the 
worst possible economy, and that Lord Duncan always denounced 
the system. He would also tell how, in his own time, an econom- 
ical order had been sent down from the Admiralty, to the effect 
that the line-of-battle ships should carry water-casks on deck to 
supply other vessels at sea ; and how Lord Duncan had indig- 
nantly declared, that whilst he obeyed the order as in duty bound, 
yet it was his intention to avail himself of his own discretion, as 



i 



INTEREST IN NAVAL MATTERS. 45 

soon as he got to the back of the Isle of Wight, by staving every 
cask on the deck of the Monarch, the moment he descried a 
strange sail. But there was nothing of this kind on which lat- 
terly he talked with greater interest than on the care which Lord 
Duncan took of the health and comfort of his men, and of his 
efforts to prevent the necessity of their being subjected to the 
constant wear and tear of keeping " watch and watch." One of 
the chief evils of undermanning consisted, he thought, in the 
necessity thus imposed on the commander, of constantly requiring 
his men to keep " watch and watch," even when drenched with 
wet, instead of allowing them alternately the opportunity of eight 
hours of repose. On this subject he spoke with much earnest- 
ness not long before his death. It was an indication of his natu- 
ral benevolence, and of his continued interest in a body of men 
amongst whom he had spent his early years. 

In fact, his natural bent towards the navy was remarkable; 
and considering his energy and force of character, his foresight 
and powers of combination, together with that faculty of inspiring 
confidence which he eminently possessed, it is no matter of sur- 
prise that two of the greatest British Admirals under whom he 
served, should have concurred in the prediction that he would 
himself rise to renown. His career was to be distinguished, but 
not in the way which attracts the admiration of the world. The 
blood-stained laurels of the conquering hero were not to encircle 
his brow, nor was he to merit and achieve stars, coronets, or rib- 
bons. But as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, he was to fight the 
good fight of faith, — to wrestle with principalities and powers 
and spiritual wickedness in high places, — and finally, finishing 
his course with joy, to lay hold of the crown of righteousness 
and the palm of victory, but only to cast them all before the 
throne of God and the Lamb. 

Eobert Haldane was only in his twentieth year when the peace 
of 1783 brought his short but active and eventful career in the 
navy to a close. The real business of his useful life did not be- 
gin for twelve years afterwards, when his brother also quitted the 
sea, with a mind impressed with the littleness of time and the 
magnitude of eternity. 

He remained for some months at Gosport, enjoying the advan- 
tage of Dr. Bogue's society and tuition, and then proceeded to 
Edinburgh, where, during the ensuing session, he resumed his 
studies at the University. The summer of 1784 he spent partly 



46 HIS MARRIAGE. 

at Lundie House, and partly in a short tonr to Paris and the 
Netherlands, accompanied by Dr. Bogue, who had also another 
young man under his charge. In that eminent minister's private 
journal, as published in his life by Dr. Bennett, he says, " We 
spent a month in wandering through France and Flanders. It 
was not good for my soul." On his return home, Dr. Bogue adds, 
" I bless God that my lot is cast in a land of Gospel light, and 
adore him for the care of his providence over me in this expedi- 
tion, and desire to live to his glory." 

The winter of 1784-5 was again spent in attending the profes- 
sors at Edinburgh, and in the spring he set out upon what used 
to be called li the grand tour." Embarking at Harwich, accom- 
panied by a naval officer who had been with him in the Fou- 
droyant, and soon afterwards became Admiral of the Turkish 
fleet, he passed through the principal cities of Holland and Ger- 
many to Vienna, where he remained for some time. Thence, 
crossing the Tyrolese Alps, he visited Venice and the chief cities 
in Northern Italy, Eome and Naples, returning home by Florence, 
Marseilles, Lyons, Switzerland, and Paris. He was naturally an 
acute and penetrating observer, a great admirer of scenery, par- 
ticularly of mountains; and the interest which he took in his 
travels was always manifest, whether he spoke of the Alps, the 
Pyrenees, or the Apennines, or discoursed of the antiquities 
which he had examined at Nismes, at Lisbon, at Herculaneum, or 
at Eome. 

On the 28th February, 1785, whilst he was abroad, he had 
attained his majority, and in the month of April in the following 
year, shortly after his return home, he married Katherine Coch- 
rane Oswald, then only in her eighteenth year, second daughter 
of the late George Oswald, Esq., of Scotstown, by his wife, the 
daughter of Mr. Smythe, of Methven, in Perthshire. Mrs. Hal- 
dane was the younger sister of the present Miss Oswald, of 
Scotstown, as well as of the late Kichard Oswald, Esq., of Auch- 
incruive, long M. P. for Ayrshire. The union was destined to 
prove long and happy. It lasted nearly fifty-seven years, and 
Mrs. Haldane was singularly adapted to be a true helpmeet in 
all his future plans, participating in his designs of usefulness, 
aiding him by her prudent counsel and sympathy, and never 
interposing her own personal wishes or comforts as an obstacle to 
their accomplishment. 

In September, 1786, they settled at his residence at Airthrey. 



HIS OCCUPATIONS AT AIRTIIREY. 47 

near Stirling, and in the month of April, 1787, their daughter 
and only child was born. 

For nearly ten years after his marriage, his time was, in a great 
measure, occupied with country pursuits, partly in improving his 
estates, and partly in ornamenting his pleasure-grounds, at a time 
when landscape gardening was less common in Scotland, than it 
has become during the last fifty or sixty years. In these, as in 
other things to which he turned his energies, he was eminently 
successful, and those most acquainted with the subject were, in 
after-years, often glad to consult him on the best method of lay- 
ing out grounds, overcoming natural difficulties, or transplanting 
trees. At Airthrey there were many fine old trees, chiefly 
beeches, elms, and limes, but in some places they had been 
planted at the beginning of the last century with too much for- 
mality. This he undertook to remedy, at a period when the 
practice of transplanting full-grown trees had scarcely been at- 
tempted in Scotland. His experiments in this way were gener- 
ally successful, and at the time attracted so much wonder as 
to give rise to the absurd report amongst the people, that he 
was contemplating the removal of the old house to a preferable 
situation.* 

The situation of Airthrey, on the last slope of the Ochill range 
of hills, is singularly picturesque. Water was the one thing 
wanting to complete its beauty. This want Mr. Haldane deter- 
mined to remedy. Before he had been settled there six months 
he commenced the excavation of an artificial lake, covering thirty 
acres of old pasture land in the park, into which he conducted an 
abundant supply of water from the hills. He also erected, in 
1791, a new house, in a castellated form, which was designed by 
Adam, father of the late Lord Chief Commissioner, and the 
grandfather of Sir Charles and Sir Frederick Adam. Mr. Adam 
was the architect of the day, but his mansions do not impress us 
with a high opinion of his taste or skill. Mr. Haldane also built 
a stone wall, extending four miles round the park, enlarged the 
gardens, conducted walks through the woods which cover the 

* When the site of the Botanical Gardens of Edinburgh was changed, more than 
twenty years ago, Dr. Robert Graham, the Professor of Botany, was indebted to 
Mr. Haldane. for much useful advice and assistance as to the transfer of a large 
number of forest trees, of various kinds and considerable dimensions, some of them 
from thirty to forty feet in height, which were removed from the old ground to the 
new, a distance of two miles or upwards. Dr. Graham was an old friend of Mr. H. 



48 HERMITAGE AT AIRTHREY. 

overhanging rocks and hills, and erected summer-houses on such 
elevated and commanding positions, as overlook the most pic- 
turesque views of the surrounding scenery. Eastward, the silver 
Forth, winding through one of the richest agricultural valleys in 
the world, seeks the far-off German Ocean, lingering in its prog- 
ress through woods and rocks, villages, towers, and towns, whilst 
westward its source is hidden amidst the grandeur of the lofty 
Grampians. Stirling Castle, Craig Forth, the Abbey Craig, and 
other striking objects, with the ruins of Cambuskenneth, all so rich 
in historical recollections, lend a deeper moral interest to the va- 
ried magnificence of the scene, more especially when the glow of 
the setting sun gilds the purple mountains with its changing hues, 
and diffuses a softer radiance over the varied realms of natural 
beauty. 

Amongst the erections in the woods of Airthrey, there was one 
which excited considerable interest, and existed for many years 
after Mr. Haldane left the place, but which has long ago tumbled 
into ruins. It was an hermitage, constructed after the model of 
the woodland retreat to which Goldsmith's Angelina is led by the 
"taper's hospitable ray," and discovers her slighted lover, who 
had sought for consolation in a hermit's life away from the haunts 
of men. " The wicket opening with a latch," " the rushy couch," 
"the scrip with herbs and fruits supplied," all the other sylvan 
articles of furniture described by the poet, were there, whilst on 
the sides of the adjacent rock, or within the hut itself, the lines 
of Goldsmith were painted at proper intervals, — the invitation to 
" the houseless child of want to accept the guiltless feast, and the 
blessing and repose," concluding at last with the sentimental 
moral, — 

" Then, pilgrim, turn, thy cares forego, — 

All earth-born cares are wrong, — 
Man wants but little here below, 

Nor wants that little long." 

The erection of this hermitage had nearly cost Mr. Haldane 
his life, for, standing too near the edge of the rock on which it 
was placed, giving directions to the workmen, his foot slipped, 
and but for a post which he was enabled to grasp, would have 
been precipitated to the bottom. The celebrated Henry Erskine 
with his usual ready wit, exclaimed, "It was a post for life!" 
But not content with the erection of this ideal hermitage, Mr. 
Haldane, who in his younger days always delighted in a practical 



REPUTATION" OF HIS ABILITIES. 49 

joke, advertised for a real hermit, specifying the conditions, which 
were to be in accordance with the beau-ideal of Goldsmith's, 
including the prohibition of animal food. But the restrictions 
did not prevent the author of the jest from being obliged to deal 
seriously with applications for the place, and one man, in particu- 
lar, professed himself ready to comply with all the conditions 
except one, which was that he should never leave the wood. 
To the doom of perpetual seclusion the would-be hermit could 
not make up his mind to submit, and the advertisement was not 
repeated. 

Shortly after the construction of his beautiful lake, Mr. 
Haldane was again placed in imminent danger. It was winter, 
and, during the frost, there was a large party of visitors and 
others on the ice, enjoying the amusement of skating and curling. 
He was himself standing near a chair on which a lady had been 
seated, when the ice suddenly broke, and he was nearly carried 
under the surface. "With his usual presence of mind he seized 
on the chair which supported him, and quietly gave directions to 
send for ropes, as a rash attempt to extricate him might have 
only involved others in the impending catastrophe. Providen- 
tially there was help at hand, and by laying hold of the ropes 
brought by a gamekeeper and an old servant, he was happily 
extricated from his perilous position. 

It is said, that before the time of Charles the Second, there 
was not one inclosed park in Scotland, and this fact may assist 
us in estimating the amount of improvement which has since 
been accomplished. By those who remember how many of the 
principal mansions and parks in Scotland are of modern date, or 
who consider what must have been their state at the period when 
Sir Walter Scott describes the old chateau of the Baron of Brad- 
wardine, and down to the time of Dr. Johnson's tour to the 
Hebrides, it may easily be supposed that Mr. Haldane's doings 
at Airthrey excited a great deal of interest in the country, and 
stirred up a disposition both to embellish and improve. 

It was, moreover, impossible to be in his society without ad- 
miring his great abilities, his originality of thought, his vivacity, 
and general information. His superiority was never disputed, 
and he was reckoned a young man of rising character and great 
promise. The probability of his coming into Parliament for the 
county was commonly spoken of, not only because of his own 
merits, but because, in those days of oligarchy in Scotland, his 

4 



50 SIR RALPH ABERCROMBY'S OPINION. 

abilities and force of character seemed to be appreciated by the 
most influential men in the county, and particularly by the late 
Duke of Montrose, the Lord-Lieutenant, at whose residence both 
the brothers had been accustomed to visit from their boyhood, 
and who was himself an occasional guest at Airthrey. His near 
neighbor, the celebrated Sir Ealph Abercromby, who was always 
remarkable for his sagacity and quick discernment of character, 
used often to say, that he never was in Mr. Haldane's company 
without hearing something worth remembering. 

In the winter of 1792-8, both Sir Ealph and Mr. Haldane 
being in Edinburgh, agreed to attend Dr. Hardy's lectures on 
Church History, and as Mr. Haldane's house was then in 
Frederick-street, and Sir Kalph's at the west end of Queen- 
street,* the General used every day for many months to call for 
Mr. Haldane, and walk with him across the bridges to the 
College, and return together. 

It may be easily supposed that these daily meetings were long 
remembered. It was to enter on a course of foreign service, 
which continued with little intermission till his death at Alex- 
andria, that Sir Ealph Abercromby was called away from the 
peaceful and instructive lectures, to which both he and his 
young friend listened with so much interest. 

But a new career was also about to open on Mr. Haldane, — 
a career in which he was not to command the applause of listen- 
ing senates, or, like his gallant friend, " to close a life of honor by 
a death of glory," but a career in which all his talents, all his 
energies, regenerated, renewed, and sanctified, were to be conse- 
crated to the service of God, and the promotion of that kingdom 
for whose coming we are taught to pray. 

* Connected with Sir Ralph Abercromby 's House, in Queen-street, there is a 
recollection which marked the simplicity and benevolence of that great man's 
character. The Commander-in-chief in Scotland usually had two soldiers as sen- 
tinels before his door, but Sir Ralph declared that it was a l: custom more honored 
in the breach than in the observance," and, considering it to be a useless parade, 
he would not allow the men to be thus fatigued. The sentry-boxes therefore stood 
untenanted at his door during all the time he held his command. His boundless 
popularity as a general was due as much to his consideration for his men in their 
quarters as to his own conspicuous gallantry in the field. 



CHAPTER III. 

[1785—1795.] 

Having sketched the history of Robert Haldane down to the 
year 1794, it next becomes necessary to trace that of his brother 
down to the same period. 

James Haldane was in his seventeenth year when he entered 
the service for which he had been destined from his infancy. 
For three generations the family had possessed the chief interest 
in one of the East India Company's " regular chartered ships," 
the property of which was shared with other connections or 
friends of the Gleneagles and Lundie families, including Mr. 
Coutts, the banker, and the Dundases of Arniston. At the time 
he went as midshipman in the Duke of Montrose, the command 
of the Melville Castle was held by Captain Philip Dundas, half- 
brother of the late Viscountess Duncan, and father of the Right 
Honorable Robert Adam Christopher, M. P., lately appointed 
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. But an arrangement pro- 
vided, that as soon as James Haldane attained the age which 
qualified him for the command, Captain Dundas should retire. 
Before he sailed, an offer was made to his uncles, which, had it 
been accepted, would, humanly speaking, not only have insured 
a splendid fortune, but changed the current of his life. Mr. 
Coutts had been on terms of much intimacy with his father, to 
whom it is said that the great banker reckoned himself to have 
been indebted, at a time when he was a junior in a house in St. 
Mary Axe, near Leadenhall-street, before he migrated westward 
to the Strand. Mr. Coutts, therefore, offered to take him into his 
bank, with a view to a share in the business, but added that he 
scarcely liked to recommend the experiment, as there would 
probably be more of drudgery than would suit a high-spirited 
young man with such prospects of his own. The tempting pro- 



52 SAILS IK THE DUKE OF MONTKOSE. 

posal was declined, and the circumstance is now only noticed as 
one of the incidents in a life, in which the guiding hand of an 
overruling Providence was uniformly conspicuous. Mr. Coutts 
always continued to evince the same friendly feeling, and not long 
before his death, told Mr. James Haldane that few things would 
confer on him more pleasure than to be of use to any of the 
family of his old friend. 

The Duke of Montrose, East Indiaman, was bound on a voyage 
to Bombay and China. The commander was Captain Gray, a 
well-known officer, who, many years afterward, perished near 
Madagascar in the Blenheim, along with Sir Thomas Troubridge 
and a crew of six hundred men. The third officer, Mr. Patrick 
Gardiner, was the son of one of the tenants of Gieneagles, and 
had gone to sea under the patronage of the family. He was 
reckoned a first-rate navigator and practical seaman, so that on 
every account it was a great advantage for the young midshipman 
to be under the care of one whose own personal interests were 
likely to conspire with kind feeling in his favor. This expecta- 
tion was not disappointed ; and the opportunity of quietly study- 
ing in Gardiner's cabin, as well as of receiving his practical in- 
structions, not only contributed to James Haldane's future skill 
in seamanship, but also to his proficiency in general knowledge. 

The voyage was tedious, even in those days, when a great 
monopoly prevailed, and economy in time was of little conse- 
quence. The charge for freight in an East Indiaman then ranged 
as high as forty pounds sterling per ton, and upwards. The 
same freight now ranges as low even as forty shillings. In 
like manner, the crew of an Indiaman varied from a minimum 
of 126 up to 180 men. That of the Duke of Montrose was 145 ; 
whilst little more than a third of that number would now be 
deemed adequate. The armament of the Company's ships used 
to be on the same scale, each carrying from twenty-six to thirty- 
six guns, and in time of war sometimes successfully beating off, 
or even capturing ships of war. Many of the captains, such as 
the Elphinstones, Lindsays, Eamsays, and Trenches, were the 
younger sons of the nobility. Some of them were baronets, most 
of them were either connected with the landed aristocracy or the 
great merchants, and all of them frequently indulged in expen- 
sive habits, which rendered them rather objects of jealousy to the 
juniors in the Koyal Navy, who had not the same means of 
acquiring fortune. These matters are all so much changed since the 



NARROW ESCAPE. 53 

alteration of the Company's charter in 1814, and the complete over 
throw of the monopoly in 1834, that this notice of a splendid ser 
vice now extinct, may neither be wholly useless nor uninteresting 

In many respects, it might be said that James Haldane's con 
duct on board the Montrose was highly exemplary. He resolutely 
set himself to master the details of his profession ; his attention 
to his duties attracted the approbation of his superiors ; and his 
zeal and energy were always combined with good sense, intelli- 
gence, and skill. He had also been furnished with a valuable 
store of books, consisting of the most useful histories of ancient 
and modern times, besides a good selection of the poets, drama- 
tists, and writers on general literature. These books, which filled 
a large sea-chest, and afterwards occupied a considerable space in 
his library, were chosen by the discriminating taste of Dr. Bogue, 
of Gosport, who also took care to add a few well-selected useful 
religious works, amongst which was Doddridge's "Eise and Pro- 
gress." It was often in after-life matter of surprise, that a sailor 
should have been so well-read and well-informed. The fact was, 
that not only did he go to sea at a later period than usual, but he 
was always fond of reading, so that, whilst ploughing the ocean 
or visiting distant regions, he was also deep in history, biography, 
voyages, and travels, diversifying these pursuits with the best 
of our poets, not omitting some of the French authors, and 
the most distinguished writers on Philosophy, Khetoric, and 
Metaphysics. 

It is on the 12th January, 1785, that the log of the Montrose 
begins. In one of his letters towards the close of his life, which 
recalls early scenes, he observes that the ship came round to Ports- 
mouth in March, when he spent a short time at Gosport, and 
sailed on the day after his cousin, the present Earl of Camper- 
down, was there born. 

In the course of this voyage several incidents occurred, calcu- 
lated to make a deep impression on his mind. On the 2d of June 
it was blowing very hard, and it became necessary to take in sail. 
For this purpose James Haldane was ordered to go aloft with a 
party of men. Just as he was beginning to mount the rigging, 
Captain Gray called out to him to stop, and ordered an able sea- 
man to go first. The log notices that, in taking in the main-top- 
sail, " James Duncan fell from the yard, and was unfortunately 
drowned." He was struck on the head, and knocked overboard. 
Young Haldane was immediately behind, and had he been first, 



54 MALAYS. 

would doubtless have found a watery grave. He saw the drown- 
ing seaman amidst the billows, and never forgot the anxious look 
which eagerly sought, but sought in vain, for succor. He used 
also to mention that this sailor was the only man, in the whole 
course of his experience at sea, of whom he ever heard or knew 
anything which indicated the possession of a vital acquaintance 
with true Christianity. It was the general remark that it would 
be well if all on board were as fully prepared for death as James 
Duncan. On the 6th August the ship arrived at Bombay, where 
it remained more than two months, and he was much on shore 
with the late Mr. Crawford Bruce, who had come out in the Mon- 
trose as a passenger, as well as with the Hon. William Fullarton 
Eiphinstone, then the captain of an Indiaman, but afterwards a 
director and chairman of the Company. 

Exactly a year from the date of their arrival at Bombay, they 
reached Macao, in China ; and after remaining there four months, 
the Montrose proceeded homewards, and arrived at Deptford on 
the 16th June, 1787. 

It may here be proper to introduce the continuation of Mr. J. 
Haldane's interesting manuscript already quoted, intituled, "Deal- 
ings of God with my Soul." 

u After going to sea, I went on much in the same way for about 
" a twelvemonth, having no more fear of God than others around 
" me, excepting that I abstained from taking His name in vain, 
" and that I read my Bible on the Sabbath, and still used a form 
u of prayer. During that voyage, which lasted above two years, 
" I just recollect one occasion on which my prayers deserved the 
" name. A man had been murdered, another severely wounded, 
u by some savages on an island (North Island, near Bantam), and 
" as I had been the last who had been with them, before it hap- 
" pened, I considered my preservation as an instance of God's care 
" of me, and with some gratitude I gave him thanks. Indeed, I 
" had cause. For some hours before it happened, attracted by 
" curiosity, I went alone into the woods, on purpose to converse 
" with the same people who soon afterwards committed the mur- 
" der. They had been all day about us, while getting water for 
" the ship. I came to their fire, but they were not there, or prob- 
"ably I had returned no more. During the same voyage I fell 
" overboard from a boat. As I could not swim, I thought I should 
" have been drowned, but was so hardened, that, although I rec- 
" ollect what passed in my mind while in the water, I never con- 



RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 55 

1 sidered the consequences of death. Providentially I had an oar 
1 in my hand when I fell from the boat, but remembering that an 
1 old sailor had told me that no one need be drowned who could 
'keep hold of an oar, this proved the means of preservation. 
M Some other things occurred, which might have struck me, but 
" my conscience was becoming seared, as with a hot iron. On my 
" return I never thought of going to church in London, because 
" they had not the same form of worship there as in Scotland. 
" This shows how easily the mind finds an excuse for a neglect 
1 ' of duty. My conscience, even at that time, would have testified 
" against me, had I stayed away from public worship in Scotland, 
" yet the difference of form in England easily silenced its rebuke. 
" I now began more fully to surrender myself to what is called a 
" life of pleasure, yet however inconsistent, I still had sometimes 
" a form of prayer, but this became gradually less frequent. In- 
" deed, it was wholly given up in the morning, and often at night 
a I fell asleep in the midst of this duty, while pleasing myself 
" with the thought, that such prayers might be of some avail. 
" When I felt any check of conscience, I satisfied myself with 
" thinking, that I was at least as good as any in the ship in which 
* I sailed ; that probably no one else even made a form of prayer, 
" and thus that the balance was in my favor, and I thought, 
" Surely God would never cast so many into misery. On my 
" first voyage I was brought under more than common concern, 
"by 'Doddridge's Kise and Progress,' which I read, like some 
" other religious books, as a task. I found I was not right, and 
" resolved to begin to amend, but my resolution was like the 
"morning cloud and early dew. I now quieted my conscience 
u with the consideration that I wronged no one, and therefore 
" could not be very criminal. The Lord laid his hand on me 
" during one voyage, and I was supposed by all to be dying. I 
"thought so myself, but was at that time perfectly hardened, and 
" sometimes considered how I should talk to those around me, 
" when dying, determined, although I might feel it, I would show 
" no unmanly signs of fear. The Lord however restored me, and 
" preserved me from other dangers in which I had plunged my- 
" self by my folly, and all the return I made was to harden my- 
" self in my rebellion." 

The allusions in the above memorandum to his further depar- 
tures from God, have particular reference to his future voyages, 
and to the life of pleasure which he afterwards led both in Cab 



66 CALCUTTA. 

cutta and in London. His second voyage was in the Phoenix 
also commanded by Captain Gray, his friend Gardner being chief 
officer, and himself fifth. During its continuance he spent nearly 
six months on shore at Calcutta, at a time when the state of soci- 
ety in that great city was such that it would have required the 
power of. the highest principle to have escaped its seductions. 
There were also peculiar circumstances which rendered his posi- 
tion in this respect more difficult. There was at Calcutta a friend 
and relation high in the service, and expending a great income, 
who welcomed him with the most affectionate hospitality, and 
loaded him with kindness. Mr. John Haldane, with his younger 
brother, the late General Eobert Haldane, were the sons of a de- 
ceased relative, who held an office in the Excise in London, and 
had been originally nominated one of the executors of Captain 
James Haldane's will. Mr. John Haldane lived in splendor, hav- 
ing a great establishment in Calcutta, and another at Garden 
Beach, which, from its luxurious magnificence and the number 
of lustres with which it was adorned, used to be jocularly called 
u the illustrious house of Haldane." Living with him and intro- 
duced to all the gaiety of Calcutta, James Haldane's life was at 
this time one constant round of excitement and fashionable dissi- 
pation. His society was much sought after, and he derived some 
eclat from the attentions he received from the Marquis of Corn- 
wallis, at whose residence he was a frequent visitor, and by whom 
he was noticed, as a well-informed, agreeable, and superior young 
man. On his leaving Calcutta, a most splendid entertainment 
was given to him by his friends, which was attended by the prin- 
cipal civil and military officers, and his return as Captain of the 
Melville Castle was anticipated as an accession to their social 
gaiety. The convivial habits of the times were at that period 
sufficiently bad in England. In the climate of India they were 
hardly tolerable, and instead of wondering at the mortality which 
then prevailed, it is only marvellous that it was not greater. As 
an example of the state of society, it is said that a little before the 
time of which we are speaking, Mr. John Haldane being persuad- 
ed that he had amassed a sufficient fortune, had resolved to return 
home, but the ship in which he had taken his passage having been 
wrecked at the mouth of the Ganges, he was received with some 
other passengers into the house of a gentleman in the neighbor- 
hood. After supper they sat down to cards and played so high, 
that before morning, Mr. John Haldane, being a gr^at loser, de- 



PKOVIDEXTIAL ESCAPE. 57 

termined to return to Calcutta, which, he never left, except in the 
discharge of his public duties, till his death in 1808. After James 
Haldane's eyes were opened to the folly of that giddy round of 
pleasure, in which he had been himself involved, he wrote repeat- 
edly and most affectionately to his friend, at Calcutta, setting the 
truth before him, and earnestly entreating him to remember that 
life was too short even for such follies as the world deems inno- 
cent. The celebrated Dr. Carey, in a letter, dated 27th of Sep- 
tember, 1804, thus writes : — 

" I am favored with yours of January 4th, of the present year, for which I 
return you my hearty thanks. I trust that every expression of that regard 
which is borne to the cause in which I am embarked, has an effect upon my 
spirit of a salutary nature. 

" I am sorry to say, that John Haldane, Esq., departed this life about two 
months before I received yours. I delivered the letter and parcel to Rev. Clau- 
dius Buchanan, who undertook to communicate the same to the gentleman who 
has the disposal of Mr. H.'s affairs, who, I understand, is — Forsyth, Esq. 

" Your intention of coming to this country engaged my heart in love to you, 
though I am now convinced that the Lord has abounded in goodness to you by 
preventing your taking that step." 

Mr. James Haldane made in all four voyages to India and 
China, and in the fourth, which lasted fifteen months, as second 
officer in his old ship, the Duke of Montrose. A circumstance 
occurred in connection with his third voyage, which, for the time, 
made an impression on his mind, and led him to think of an over- 
ruling Providence. Through the late Sir Robert Preston, a con- 
temporary of his father's, who had himself laid the foundation of 
his great fortune as an East India captain, he unexpectedly re- 
ceived an appointment as third officer of the Foulis Indiaman. 
Owing to some inevitable circumstances he was detained in Scot- 
land, and not having been fully informed of the urgency of the 
case, he found to his surprise and mortification, on his arrival in 
London, that the Foulis had sailed, and his place had been filled 
up. He was immediately nominated third officer of the Hills 
borough, under Captain Coxwell ; but the loss of the first appoint- 
ment was, on several accounts, very mortifying, and occasioned 
at the time much vexation. He little thought of the guardian 
arm that was around, the child of many prayers. The Foulis was 
never again heard of, and is supposed to have foundered or been 
burned at sea. 

There was another occasion on which he ran some voluntary 



58 ESCAPE FROM SHIPWRECK. 

risk of a different kind, in consequence of the shortness of the 
time which had been allowed for his outfit. The ship was in the 
Downs, and having stayed in London till what he considered the 
last safe moment, he posted down to Deal with great rapidity, 
and arrived in the middle of the night. There was a gale of wind, 
occasioning great difficulty and no little danger in the way of 
getting on board, but a high bribe soon tempted the daring boat- 
men of Deal to take him alongside his ship. It was his object to 
report himself as present to the Company's officer, specially ap- 
pointed for that purpose. It was found that he had already sent 
off his report, notifying Mr. Haldane's absence. The official was * 
called up, and requested to despatch another letter intimating the 
arrival. By no means in good humor at the untimely disturb- 
ance the man on duty peremptorily refused, but at last, after 
some altercation, admitted that it might be proper to make the 
announcement, if there were any means of doing so. But in those 
days there were no electric telegraphs, the mail was gone, and the 
night was most tempestuous. The young officer urged that he 
would himself be responsible for the safe conveyance of the de- 
spatch, and in the sequel carried it on shore, and posting up to 
London delivered it at the India House, and again returned with 
equal rapidity to the Downs. It may be noted as characteristic 
of the India service, that it was then unusual for an officer of any 
East India ship to travel with less than four horses. 

When appointed to the Duke of Montrose, in 1792, he was in 
his twenty -fourth year. A skilful navigator, a good seaman, and 
as an officer distinguished alike for his firmness and suavity, he 
was looked up to by his companions as a fortunate young man, 
of superior talents, attainments, and prospects. The chief officer, 
Mr. Charles Dundas, was in bad health, and the captain, although 
a man of worth and respectability, had not much confidence in 
himself, so that, in a certain sense, the command of the ship sub- 
stantially depended on Mr. J. A. Haldane. In every emergency 
of difficulty or of danger, it was to his dauntless resolution and 
experienced seamanship that all eyes were turned. The Captain 
himself acknowledged that, when it blew hard at night, or the 
navigation was difficult, he never slept with comfort unless he 
knew that James Haldane was on deck, and when the voyage 
terminated he testified his sense of these services by the presenta- 
tion of a costly collection of charts, as a grateful acknowledgment. 
On one occasion it happened, as appears by the log, that on the 



CONVIVIAL HABITS OF THE TIMES- 59 

12th of June, 1792, the ship had nearly struck on the rocks in 
the Mozambique Channel, under circumstances similar to those 
which, about the same time and in the same seas, occasioned the 
loss of the Winterton, with a great part of the crew, including its 
commander, Captain Dundas of Dundas.* The promptitude and 
decision of James Haldane saved the Montrose from a like catas- 
trophe. It was soon after midnight, or very early in the morning, 
when a passenger, walking upon deck, became alarmed at some 
conversation amongst the older seamen, which he overheard. He 
instantly went to Mr. Haldane's cabin, and awakening him from 
sleep, told him of his fears, and brought him immediately upon 
deek. The officer of the watch apprehended no danger, but the 
Captain having been called by Mr. Haldane's order, and the lead 
heaved, it appeared that, instead of being out of soundings, the 
depth was only nine fathoms. The Captain was undecided, when 
Mr. Haldane, considering that there was no time for further par- 
ley, put a speaking-trumpet to his lips, and the cry, "Every soul 
upon deck this instant," sent alarm through the whole ship, and 
in a moment brought the men from their hammocks. To put the 
ship about was the work of a few minutes, and this was scarcely 
accomplished, before the shout, from the main-top, "Breakers 
ahead," warned them of the imminence of their danger, and it 
was discovered that another quarter of an hour's sailing in the 
same direction, would have probably left the Montrose a wreck 
on M the Barren islands." 

The Montrose arrived at Deptford on the 19th June, 1793. 
The commencement of the war with France had been announced 
before the ship reached St. Helena, and from that island a large 
fleet of Indiamen were in company under convoy. This circum- 
stance occasioned a frequent interchange of hospitality between 
the officers of the different ships, and in those days of convivial 
excess the result was anything but favorable to habits of sobriety. 
Happily James Haldane was never, even in his early days, in- 
clined to exceed the bounds of temperance. He was, on the 
contrary, naturally rather abstemious : but, for a young man fond 
of society, full of life and spirit, it was almost impossible to escape 
without sometimes being carried away by the stream. In fact, it 
was considered a reproach to the hospitality of any ship which 

* An interesting account of the loss of the Winterton was some years ago pub- 
lished by George Buchan, Esq., of Kelloe, who was one of the passengers, and an 
attache to Sir George Staunton's embassy. 



60 DUEL. 

sent a party away sober. When the Duke of Wellington went 
to India, as Colonel Wesley, the same practices prevailed. But 
we have lived to see the time when such degrading scenes are 
deemed low and immoral, when a young man is not inevitably 
shut up to insobriety, unless he chooses to make himself peculiar, 
and when religion and virtue are no longer treated only as objects 
of ridicule. 

It was, however, upon one of those occasions that James 
Haldane, on returning to his own ship, very narrowly escaped 
falling down the hatchway, which must have proved certain 
death. He was only slightly injured, and his preservation was 
almost miraculous, but the circumstance awakened serious 
thoughts, and made a lasting impression on his mind. To him 
it was at the time the more mortifying, as the captain, who was 
himself reckoned rather an austere man, had previously been 
kindly cautioning him against these convivial meetings, telling 
him that the inebriety to which they were sure to lead might be 
well enough for some others, but in one of his superior mind, and 
with his resources, was altogether unworthy and unpardonable. 

It might seem, perhaps, scarcely necessary to allude to such 
things, except to show the greatness of the change afterwards 
wrought on his moral character by the grace of God. But, for 
the same reason, it may be necessary to mention a duel m 
which he was involved on his voyage from India in the Hills- 
borough. The facts are chiefly derived from the information of 
his own second and that of two of his brother officers. The ship 
was crowded with passengers ; amongst these there was a cavalry 
officer, who was returning home, — a notorious shot, a successful 
duellist, and much of a bully. It afterwards appeared that he 
had been forced to leave the King's service, in consequence of his 
quarrelsome temper and aptitude for such brawls. In the course 
of the voyage he made himself very disagreeable, and was rather 
an object of dread. On one occasion some high words occurred 
between him and Mr. James Haldane, arising out of a proposal 
to make the latter a party to a paltry trick, designed to provoke 
an irritable invalid as he lay in his cot with his door open, and 
was, in fact, actually dying. Mr. J. Haldane's indignant refusal 
issued in this captain's taking an opportunity deliberately and 
publicly to insult him at the mess-table, when, in return for a 
somewhat contemptuous retort, the aggressor threw a glass of 
wine in Mr. Haldane's face. He little knew the spirit which he 



DUEL. 61 

evoked. To rise from his seat and dash at the head of the assail- 
ant a heavy ship's tumbler was the work of an instant. Provi- 
dentially the missile was pitched too high, pulverized against the 
beam of the cabin, and descended in a liquid shower upon the 
offending dragoon. A challange ensued, and Mr. J. Haldane 
consulted with a friend as to the propriety of accepting it. That 
the challenger was under a cloud with his own regiment was 
certain, although the particulars were unknown, and it was 
decided that it was optional to accept or decline the cartel. But, 
as the matter was then doubtful, it was ruled that, in obedience 
to the code of honor, it was safer to give the captain the benefit 
of the doubt ; and he was himself the more clear on the point, as 
the reputation of the challenger as a shot might probably be 
regarded as having influenced a refusal. 

The preliminaries being arranged, it was agreed that they 
should meet at the Cape of Good Hope ; but the captain of the 
ship suspecting mischief, refused leave to land. The meeting 
was accordingly postponed till they arrived at St. Helena, when 
they all went ashore, unobserved, very early in the morning. 
The night before James Haldane made his will, wrote a letter of 
farewell to his brother, in the event of his death, and then went 
to bed, and slept so soundly that he did not awake till he was 
called. It happened that, owing to the apj^rehension of being 
observed and detained, the duellists had only one case of pistols, 
which belonged to Mr. Haldane's second, a naval ofhcer of some 
distinction, afterwards better known, during the war, as Admiral 
Donald Campbell, who commanded the Portuguese fleet, and also 
enjoyed a pension for services rendered to Lord St. Vincent and 
Lord Nelson. The two antagonists were placed at twelve paces 
distant, and were to fire together and by signal. Before the 
pistol was given into Mr. J. Haldane's hand, his second, in a low 
tone, repeated what he had before told him, that this was a case 
in which he must have no scruple about shooting his challenger ; 
that it was not a common duel, but a case of self-preservation, 
and that one or the other must fall. The signal was given, and, 
as Mr. J. Haldane raised his pistol, with strange inconsistency he 
breathed the secret prayer, — " Father, into thy hands I commend 
my spirit ;" thus verifying the observation of Tertullian, that in 
moments of imminent danger men involuntarily call upon God, 
acknowledging his presence and his providence, even when they 
seem practically to forget his existence and trample on his laws. 



62 DUELLING. 

With this prayer in his heart, and, as Admiral Campbell testified, 
with his eye fixed on his antagonist, without a symptom of trepi- 
dation, he calmly drew the trigger, when his pistol burst, the 
contents flying upwards and a fragment of the barrel inflicting a 
wound on his face. The other pistol missed fire, and the chal- 
lenger immediately intimated, through his second, that he was so 
well satisfied with the honorable conduct of Mr. Haldane, that he 
was willing that the affair should terminate. This message was 
accepted as sufficient. Bowing to each other, they parted with 
civility, but, as might be anticipated, without reconciliation. To 
such matters he scarcely ever alluded, but the facts were known 
to his brother, and by him repeated not loog before his death. 

As a contrast to the spirit manifested in this affair, it may be 
mentioned that, about ten years after this duel, Mr. James Hal- 
dane happened to be at Buxton, in the public room of one of the 
great hotels. There was a window open near the place where 
Mrs. J. Haldane was seated, and fearing, on her account, the 
effects of the draught, he shut it. A swaggering young man, 
more intent to display his self-consequence than his gallantry, 
with great rudeness immediately reopened it. Mr. J. Haldane 
said, " There was a time, Sir, when I should have resented this 
impertinence, but I have since learned to forgive injuries and to 
overlook insults." 

At the period of which we write, "affairs of honor," as they 
are miscalled, were of frequent occurrence, and those who chose 
to live under the tyranny of the world felt it frequently impos- 
sible to escape. Indeed, from his ardent temperament and almost 
prodigal courage, it is perhaps matter of surprise, considering the 
spirit of the times, that such a young man was not oftener thus 
involved. It has been said by his contemporaries, that this was 
partly owing to the fact that his known determination usually 
shielded him from provocation, and partly that his natural dispo- 
sition being amiable, the spirit which would not brook an insult 
was equally averse to offer provocation. In themselves, duelling 
and personal quarrels were abhorrent to his nature, and, more 
than once, when his co-operation as a second was requested, he 
was the means of effecting reconciliation without bloodshed. In 
one of these cases, both of the intended belligerents had requested 
to be allowed to place their honor in his hands, and refusing to 
act against either as an antagonist, he was enabled to arrange the 
matter to their mutual satisfaction. 



ANECDOTE. (53 

There was, indeed, one occasion, some years afterwards, which 
attracted much attention at the time, when he was the means of 
preventing a duel between a friend of his and a very notorious 
colonel, who, not many years ago, wrote his own memoirs, under 
the title of a Baronetcy, which he had assumed, without legal 
authority, on the ground of collateral descent. This colonel had 
fought more duels than most men, and was equally expert at his 
pistol or his rapier. He had frequently wounded, and, at least 
in one affair, killed his antagonist. Sitting in a large party at a 
dinner-table, after the ladies had withdrawn, at the house of his 
brother-in-law, in the neighborhood of Stirling, the belligerent 
colonel engaged in a trifling dispute with an elderly and much 
respected gentleman, at whose head he finally levelled a decanter. 
This act of violence had been preceded by a torrent of abuse 
which moved the indignation of the whole company, although 
every one, including their host himself, seemed paralyzed. 
Scarcely had the decanter sped its way, when, at the same mo- 
ment, the colonel's own collar was seized by the muscular arm of 
a young man sitting by his side, and he himself and his chair 
were suddenly projected into the middle of the room. Eising 
from the ground, his paroxysm of rage now sought another 
object of attack, but he was so calmly confronted by the steady 
eye and determined bearing of James Haldane, whose character 
was well known to him, that he involuntarily and obviously 
cooled. He contented himself by hastily demanding the mean- 
ing of this uncalled-for interference in a quarrel that was not his, 
and being briefly but emphatically told that it was to prevent 
violence in his company, the irate duellist once more turned his 
reproaches on the original object of his ungovernable fury, and 
with great skill adopting the words of the unwelcome pacificator 
as a satisfactory explanation, walked out of the room, exclaiming, 
" As for my friend, Captain Haldane, his object was only to pre- 
vent violence," The gentleman who had been so rudely insulted 
was himself an old colonel, and at first considered that he was 
obliged "to demand satisfaction," but the two brothers went to 
his house the next day and succeeded in convincing him that he 
was absolved by the subsequent rencontre from any such obliga- 
tion. So far as the aggressor was himself concerned, it seemed 
as if a spell had been broken ; the terror which was connected 
with his name was dissipated. He shortly afterwards went 
abroad, and never again returned to reside in Scotland. 



64 ANECDOTE. 

It will be seen, in a future part of these Memoirs, with what 
power and effect Mr. J. Haldane assailed the practice of duelling. 
There is no doubt that the attention he then excited, and the 
crowds who came to hear him when, in 1804, he preached on the 
death of Lord Camelford, were partly due to the knowledge of 
the fact, that he himself had been a votary of the so-called laws 
of honor, and had been seen to brave the wrath of one of the 
most notorious duellists of his time. 

A little before the occurrence just related, there was another, 
which had attracted some notice in the county. It happened that 
a warrant had been issued for the apprehension of a tenant on 
the Airthrey estate, who was a very desperate character, and had 
committed an act of swindling, accompanied by forgery. When 
the officers went to apprehend him they were severely beaten, 
and came to the house of Airthrey in the evening to report the 
result and solicit additional aid, as well as the authority of Mr. 
Haldane's presence. Both he and his brother accordingly went, 
taking with them some of the servants. On arriving at the 
house of the culprit, at the mill near the Bridge of Allan, or the 
modern village of Airthrey Wells, they found the doors and 
windows barricaded, and the man, with his dogs and some of his 
sons and servants, armed with guns and bludgeons, threatening 
death to any one who dared to break in. The officers were them- 
selves alarmed, but neither of the two gentlemen whose aid they 
had claimed chose to be thus ignominiously repulsed. Whilst 
considering how to proceed, Mr. Haldane, with characteristic gen- 
eralship, walked round the premises, and suddenly called out to his 
brother that there was an unguarded window, which had been 
overlooked by the besieged in their plans of defence. James 
Haldane, with determination equally characteristic, no sooner 
heard the announcement than he sprung through the window, 
which dropped behind him, just as the men and dogs, attracted 
by the noise, were hurrying to the point of attack. Pausing for 
a moment to produce his pistols, looking his intended assailants 
steadily in the face, warning them as to the consequences of 
assailing him in discharge of his duty, he coolly walked to the 
front door, which he unlocked, and then left the peace officers 
to remove their prisoner. The culprit was convicted, and sen- 
tenced either to transportation or imprisonment. 

The change of social habits since the last generation passed 
away, is a fit subject of congratulation and thankfulness. In 



ANECDOTE OF MR. PITT. 65 

the higher ranks of society the vices of drinking, swearing, and 
duelling, are now nearly as vulgar as they were once fashionable. 
Three centuries ago swearing was so common, that a chaplain, 
preaching the funeral sermon of a titled lady of the noble house 
of Berkeley, belonging to the Court of Queen Elizabeth, men- 
tions it as a proof of her virtue, that she was never heard to use 
a profane oath. Within a much shorter period than sixty years 
ago, it was difficult for any young man who did not affect singu- 
larity, to escape from the contamination of that convivial intem- 
perance which disgraced the age. It was not every one who 
could act like Dr. Johnson, who, unable to resist the temptation, 
at last substituted lemonade for wine, so as to enjoy social inter- 
course and yet avoid excess. Even Mr. Pitt could enter the 
House of Commons so much intoxicated, that Mr. Fox, who 
could well sympathize with the indiscretion, moved an adjourn- 
ment ; and, as connected with these Memoirs, it is rather a curious 
circumstance that this historical fact occurred after the great Pre- 
mier, in company with his friend Mr. Dundas, had been dining 
at Deptford, on board the Melville Castle, with Captain Philip 
Dundas, shortly before Captain Haldane assumed the command. 
It is not wonderful that profane swearing and duelling should be 
connected with deep potations, and that vices should have been 
fashionable in the last generation, which would now be reckoned 
vulgar and discreditable. The pious Colonel Blackadder, in his 
remarkable diary, which includes the wars of Marlborough, be- 
wails an occasion when he had himself, in his old age, been be- 
trayed into intemperance, and even persons having a reputation 
for religion were known to be not wholly exempt from the habit 
of infringing on the third commandment. 

If such topics have been glanced at in connection with Captain 
Haldane's early life, it is for the purpose of furnishing a just 
representation of the character which he had by nature, but 
which was changed by grace. In reading these incidents, who 
would believe that this is the same person of whom Mr. Simeon 
not many years afterwards writes : "The Lord has favored you 
with a meek nnd spiritual mind?" The gentleness and benevo- 
lence of his character seemed to grow as he advanced in age, 
even to the last. 

His elder brother, a short time before his own death, during 
a well-remembered and most agreeable walk at Auchingray, was 
relating some of the facts which have been just recorded, and 

5 



06 HIS MARRIAGE. 

finished Ms interesting details by saying, " See, then, the power 
of grace." 

There was a time when few seemed to be more " stout-hearted 
and far from righteousness, " — when the dread of the world was 
the only fear which seemed to influence his actions, and God was 
not in all his thoughts. But neither the world, the flesh, nor the 
devil, were destined long to retain their prey. He was "a chosen 
vessel," ordained to be himself a monument of Divine mercy, and 
an instrument to convey that mercy to others. His whole nature 
was to undergo renovation. The good seed, still lodged in his 
breast, was soon to burst forth and produce its glorious fruits. 
The proud heart which would not bend before his fellows, or be- 
fore the world itself, was to become broken under a melting sense 
of the Saviour's love. That lofty spirit which would not quail 
even at the approach of death, and which could not brook a word 
or a look that menaced it with insult, was to abandon its stubborn 
rebellion and become lowly, humble, and contrite before the Lord. 
His energies, his courage, his determination, were indeed to re- 
main, but these energies, that courage, that determination, were 
to be directed into a nobler channel. They were to be consecra- 
ted to the service of another and a better Master. They were to 
be no longer the attributes of a haughty rebel, but a part of the 
glorious panoply of the Christian hero, the devoted, self-denying, 
faithful champion of the cross. 

Mr. James Haldane's fourth voyage in the Duke of Montrose 
ended on the 19th June, 1793. In less than a month he attained 
the age of twenty-five, and having passed the necessary examina- 
tions, he was pronounced fully qualified to command an India- 
man. Shortly afterwards he was nominated to the Melville Castle, 
bound to Madras and Calcutta, and the ship was ordered to be in 
the Downs at the beginning of the following January. But before 
the time arrived he had taken another step, which exerted an 
important influence on his future life. 

Soon after he went down to Scotland, he met at Airthrey a 
young lady, to whom he was married on the 18th of September 
following. She was the only child of Major Alexander Joass, of 
Culleonard, in the county of Banff, by Elizabeth Abercromby, 
second daughter of George Abercromby, of Tulliebody, in the 
county of Clackmannan. Major Joass, through his grandmother, 
the daughter of George, the second Lord Banff, was the heir 
general of the fourth Baron, who died without issue. In early 



SIR RALPH ABERCROMBY. 67 

life he had served in the Royals, with his brother-in-law, Colonel 
Edmonstone, of Newton, but having been disabled for active ser- 
vice by rheumatic fever, he accepted the appointment of Fort Major 
and Acting Deputy -Governor of Stirling Castle, which was confer- 
red by his uncle, General James Abercromby, of Glassaugh. This 
office placed him, with very easy duties, in an agreeable residence, 
in the centre of his own friends and his wife's, where, for thirty 
years, although much of an invalid, he made the old palace at 
Stirling Castle famed for its hospitality. Major Joass, having no 
male issue, had sold his paternal estate of Culleonard, near Banff, 
to the Earl of Findlater and Seafield, some years before the great 
rise which took place in the value of land in Scotland. His only 
daughter was a general favorite, and such was the charm of her 
vivacity and the sweetness of her disposition, that it was naturally 
expected she should make what is called u sl good marriage." It 
is not, therefore, matter of surprise that there should have been 
some hesitation as to the proposed union of an only child with a 
younger son, whose prospects were, indeed, excellent, but whose 
fortune was still to come from the ocean and from foreign climes. 
Difficulties, however, gave way before strong attachment, aided 
by the affectionate zeal of Mr. Robert Haldane, who was anxious 
that there should be a new attraction to help on the arrangement 
by which he hoped to detain his brother at home. 

Sir Ralph Abercromby, then on foreign service with the Duke 
of York in France, also expressed his approval ; and the follow- 
ing letter, written in the heat of a busy campaign, is at once inter- 
esting as coming from so distinguished a General, and as indicating 
the good sense of his manly character. 

11 Lieutenant- General Abercromby to Major Joass. 

" Camp before Dunkirk, August 27, 1793. 

" My dear Major, — You may easily conceive that in a matter 
in which your family is so nearly concerned, an old friend and 
near relation cannot but be interested. If your daughter likes 
Mr. Haldane, which is the case, there is no difficulty. They have 
and will have abundance. He is a young man in a profession 
which will command fortune ; and allow me to say, it is a better 
match for real happiness than if ' Miss Joass' had married an 
idle country gentleman, let his character be what it may. I 
warmly congratulate you on this event ; and from the good prin- 



68 ANECDOTE. 

ciples of the family into which your daughter goes, I have no 
doubt of her happiness. 

" We are now preparing for the siege of Dunkirk. I hope it 
will be of shorter duration than that of Valenciennes. That of 
Bergens will follow, so that we shall have no idleness. I keep my 
health wonderfully well. Sir Eobert Laurie is here with us. He 
begs his compliments. I am sorry it has not been in my power 
to pay as much attention to several young gentlemen from our 
country as I could wish. Young Duff is a fine lad ; so is young 
Shawfield. My love to you all. 

" Ever yours, affectionately, 

" Eh. Ay." 

Shortly after their marriage, Captain and Mrs. James Haldane 
repaired to London, where, for some months, they resided in Sack- 
ville-street, Piccadilly. Between the bustle of preparing for the 
voyage and the gaieties of the metropolis, there was not much 
opportunity for serious thought. Mrs. James Haldane had been 
well brought up, and had also been accustomed to the excellent 
ministry of Mr. Simeon's friend, Dr. Walter Buchanan, and more 
recently to that of Dr. Innes. She was, therefore, a good deal 
shocked at the disregard for the Lord's-day, and the abandonment 
of public worship. It is a striking thought, that her husband was 
then borrowing the arguments he had learned from Dr. Macknight 
on his tour with Dr. Adam, as to the difference between neglect- 
ing these duties in Scotland and in England, adding, at the same 
time, that it was much easier to get to heaven than she imagined. 
Such arguments are not, it is to be feared, out of date, in the 
present age, but they were formerly much more common. In 
illustration of this, Mr. James Haldane used himself to tell of a 
scene to which he was witness, at the house of a noble Earl in the 
north of Scotland. It happened that a celebrated and somewhat 
eccentric Duchess arrived rather unexpectedly on a Sunday. Out 
of compliment to her Grace and her London habits, she was 
offered in the evening the amusement of cards. This improper 
compliance was contrary to the usages of the family; and her 
instant and emphatic reply, "Not on this side of the Tweed, my 
Lord," whilst it rebuked the complaisance of her noble host, 
almost implied that she felt ashamed of the proposal. 

The preparations for the voyage were completed before the end 
of December, including the arrangements for Mrs. J. Haldane's 



PROSPECTS. 69 

return and safe convoy to Scotland. Their separation was the 
only dark spot in the horizon, as all things seemed to smile on a 
bright future. They had met with kindness from all their family 
connections and friends in London, including Mr. Secretary and 
Lady Jane Dundas. Captain Haldane also visited that distin- 
guished Minister at Walmer Castle, and received from him the 
hearty and unsolicited assurance of his support and interest. Mr. 
Hobart, afterwards Earl of Buckinghamshire, was then going out 
as Governor of Madras, and he informed Mr. Coutts, the banker, 
that he had been requested by the President of the Board of Con- 
trol to regard Captain Haldane as one in whom he took a per- 
sonal interest The fact of his wife's uncle, Sir Robert Aber- 
cromby, having been Governor and Commander-in-chief at Bom- 
bay, and being then at the head of the whole Indian army, was 
another circumstance in his favor, whilst above all, his own repu- 
tation was sure to give full effect to all his family and personal 
influence. As the value of a command greatly depended upon 
the number and quality of the passengers returning home, it may 
be easily supposed that few of his contemporaries took leave of 
the East India House with brighter prospects. 

The Melville Castle had been manned with unusual rapidity, 
the popularity of the captain rendering employment in that ship 
an object of competition with seamen. It arrived at Portsmouth 
on the 31st December, 1793, and it was expected that the East 
India fleet, consisting of no less than twenty-five ships, would 
shortly sail under a strong convoy. But after all was ready, there 
were various circumstances which combined for their detention. 
In the first place, the Government then entertained a plan for 
availing themselves of the Indiamen to reduce the Mauritius ; and 
in the next place, there was a continuance of westerly winds for 
such an unusual period, that the fleet, which should have sailed 
in January, did not weigh anchor till the month of May, Upon 
these contingencies was suspended the future history of Captain 
Haldane's life. 

But before relating, chiefly from his own notes, the revolution 
which took place in his religious state, it may be proper to re- 
count a circumstance which occurred at this time, strongly illus- 
trating the same force of character and dauntless energy which al- 
ways marked his career. The part he took in quelling the mu- 
tiny on board the Dutton has now become " a history little known." 
For many years it was remembered by all connected with the 



70 MUTINY OF THE DUTTON. 

great East India fleet, finally amounting to thirty-six ships, which 
were then collected at Portsmouth. The following account was 
kindly furnished by the Eev. Christopher Anderson, not long be- 
fore he rested from his useful labors. His brother was a surgeon 
on board the Dutton, and kept a journal, ip which the facts were 
noted. There are a few other incidents which were gleaned from 
Mr. Haldane's own conversation, but they were in full accordance 
with Dr. Anderson's narrative, and add but slightly to his vivid 
description of the scene. 

At the close of 1793, a large East India fleet was detained, from 
various causes, in the Downs and at Spithead, from Christmas to 
April following. A mutinous disposition was detected in three 
or four men on board the Dutton, Captain Samson, in December ; 
but the captain, with his officers, after consultation, released those 
men from confinement, on promise of good behavior. On the 
31st, the Melville Castle and two other East Indiamen anchored 
at Spithead. The Carnatic and many others followed, till they 
came to be styled * the grand fleet.' By the 19th March, how- 
ever, in paying off certain men at Portsmouth from the Dutton, 
such a spirit was shown as made it necessary for the Captain to 
apply for assistance to his Majesty's ship the Kegulus.* On the 
evening of the 19th, Lieutenant Lucas, of the Regulus, with his 
boat's crew came on board, to demand four of the ringleaders, the 
same men formerly mentioned, when the greatest part of the crew 
hastily got up the round shot on deck, threatening that they would 
sink the first boat that came alongside. The crew emboldened 
and increasing in fury, the Lieutenant thought it prudent to leave 
the ship, as did also the Captain, under the impression that their 
absence might assist in restoring peace and quietness. The crew, 
however, getting outrageous, were going to hoist out the boats. 
The Carnatic Indiaman hearing the confusion, fired several alarm 
guns, and armed boats from the other ships were now advancing. 
By this time the crew of the Dutton beingin a most serious state 
of mutiny, had begun to arm themselves with shot, iron bars, &c., 
and made a determined attack on the quarter-deck. The officers, 
having lost their command, were firing pistol-shots overhead, 

* The men complained that, owing to their detention, their stores were exhausted, 
and they demanded an additional advance of pay to purchase tea and other com- 
forts. The crew of the Melville Castle had received this indulgence, as a boon 
which it was reasonable to grant. It was refused by the captain of the Dutton, and 
hence the mutiny. 



CAPTAIN HALDANE QUELLS THE MUTINEERS. 71 

when one seaman, getting over the booms, received a wound in 
the head, of which he died six days after. 

It has been said that the mutineers threatened to carry the ship 
into a French port, but at this moment, far more serious appre- 
hension was felt lest the men should gain access to the ship's gun- 
powder, and madly end the strife by their own death, and that of 
all on board. One of the two medical men on board had serious 
thoughts of throwing himself into the water to escape the risk. 
It was at this critical moment that Captain Haldane, of the Mel- 
ville Castle, appeared at the side of the vessel. His approach 
was the signal for renewed and angry tumults. The shouts of the 
officers, " Come on board ; come on board," were drowned by 
the cries of the mutineers, " Keep off, or we'll sink you." The 
scene was appalling, and to venture into the midst of the angry 
crew seemed to be an act of daring almost amounting to rashness. 
Ordering his men to veer round by the stern, in a few moments 
Captain Haldane was on the quarter-deck. His first object was to 
restore to the officers composure and presence of mind. He per- 
emptorily refused to head an immediate attack on the mutineers, 
but very calmly reasoning with the men, cutlass in hand, telling 
them that they had no business there, and asking what they hoped 
to effect in the presence of twenty sail of the line, the quarter- 
deck was soon cleared. But observing that there was still much 
confusion, and inquiring at the same time from the officers where 
the chief danger lay, he was down immediately at the very point 
of alarm. Two of the crew, intoxicated with spirits, and more 
hardy than the rest, were at the door of the powder magazine, 
threatening with horrid oaths that whether it should prove 
Heaven or Hell they would blow up the ship. One of them was 
in the act of wrenching off the iron bars from the doors, whilst 
the other had a shovel full of live coals, ready to throw in ! Cap- 
tain Haldane, instantly putting a pistol to the breast of the man 
with the iron bar, told him that if he stirred he was a dead man. 
Calling at the same time for the irons of the ship, as if disobe- 
dience were out of the question, he saw them placed, first on this 
man and then on the other. The rest of the ringleaders were 
then secured, when the crew, finding that they were overpower- 
ed, and receiving the assurance that none should be removed that 
night, became quiet, and the Captain returned to his own ship. 
Next day, the chief mutineers were put on board the Begulus, 



\l BEGINS TO READ THE BIBLE. 

King's ship, and the rest of the crew went to their duty 
peaceably. 

"Had any one," said the venerable narrator, "then foretold 
that this daring captain of the Melville Castle would ere long be- 
come a minister of Christ, the pastor of a large Christian Church, 
and of a larger congregation, and that this surgeon on board the 
Dutton now bound for India, and well known afterwards as Dr. 
James Anderson of Edinburgh — would, after returning home, one 
day join that Church, where he remained for years until his dis- 
solution, nothing would have appeared so incredible." 

This was the last of the perils of his life at sea, in which his 
bold and adventurous spirit seemed to take pleasure. The time 
had now come when he was to enter on a holier calling, and to be 
engaged in occupations of more enduring importance. The change 
was not, however, sudden, but gradual ; not the result of enthu- 
siastic excitement, but of calm reflection. " Marriage," it has been 
said, " sobers even the soberest." It operated on his moral feel- 
ings with a most beneficial influence. He had been thoroughly 
disgusted with the bacchanalian joviality of his last voyage from 
St. Helena ; he also felt the responsibility of his new position, as 
Commander of a ship with a numerous crew of officers and men, 
besides passengers and soldiers. He resolved that his influence 
should be exerted for good, and that he would set an example 
befitting his station, by having Divine worship on board. To all 
this it may be added, that the idea of parting so soon and for so 
long a time from his young wife, to whom he was tenderly attach 
ed, was justly assigned by some of his friends as one circumstance 
that made him for the time at least more thoughtful and reflec- 
tive. To borrow from his manuscript memoranda, which still 
serve us as a guide : — 

" Some circumstances which took place tended, before I left 
" the sea, to render me more circumspect ; yet was my heart still 
" unchanged. I lived on board ship nearly four months at Ports- 
" mouth, and having much spare time and being always fond of 
" reading, I was employed in this way, and began, more from a 
" conviction of its propriety than any real concern about eternity, 
" to read the Bible and religious books, not only on the Sabbath, 
" but a portion of Scripture every day. I also began to pray to 
" God, although almost entirely about the concerns of a present 
" world. During all this time I did not go on shore to public 
u worship above once or twice, though I could have done so, and 



QUITS THE MELVILLE CASTLE. 73 

1 heard the Gospel with the same form of worship (at Dr. Bogue's) 
' as in Scotland. At length some impressions seemed to be made 
1 on my mind, that all was not right, and knowing that the Lord's 
' Supper was to be dispensed, I was desirous of being admitted, 
1 and went and spoke with Dr. Bogue on the subject. He put 
' some books into my hand on the nature of the ordinance, which 
4 1 read, and was more regular in prayer and attending public 
' worship. An idea of quitting the sea at this time was suggest- 
' ed, apparently by accident, and literally so, except in so far as 
1 ordered of God. The thought sunk into my mind, and, although 
1 there were many obstacles, my inclination rather increased than 
' abated. Being now in the habit of prayer, I asked of God to 
' order matters so that it might be brought about, and formed 
1 resolutions of amendment, in case my prayer should be heard. 
4 Several circumstances occurred which seemed to cut off every 
1 hope of my being able to get away before the fleet sailed ; yet 
1 the Lord overruled all to farther the business, and I quitted the 
1 ship about two days before she left England. A concern about 
c my soul had very little influence in this step ; yet I was now 
' determined to begin to make religion a matter of serious consid- 
' eration. I was sure I was not right. I had never joined at 
' the Lord's Supper, being formerly restrained partly by conscience, 
1 while living in open sin, and partly by want of conveni- 
1 ent opportunities, and I had been prevented by my engage- 
1 ments in the week of quitting the sea, from joining at Gosport, 
' as I had proposed. However dark my mind still was, I have 
( no doubt but that God began a work of grace on my soul while 
1 living on board the Melville Castle. His voice was indeed still 
1 and small, but I would not despise the day of small things, nor 
'undervalue the least of His gracious dealings towards me. 
' There is no doubt that I had sinned against more light than 
' many of my companions who have been cut off in their iniqui- 
1 ties, and that I might justly have been made a monument of 
' His wrath." 

The chief obstacles to his leaving the sea, arose from the oppo- 
sition of his own uncles, and from his wife's relatives. They 
naturally considered it to be an act of folly to relinquish prospects 
of fortune such as he had before him, and the idea of a young 
man sitting down as "an idle country gentleman" was one which 
Sir Ealph Abercromby had in his letter particularly singled out 
as unfavorable for happiness. But the advice of his brother de- 



74 LETTER FROM SIR RALPH ABERCROMBY. 

cided the matter. Mr. Haldane had previously labored earnestly, 
although without success, to induce him to settle at home, and in 
the neighborhood of Airthrey. When, therefore, he heard that 
an opportunity had occurred of disposing of the command for the 
sum of 9000?., being at the rate of 3000/. a voyage, exclusive of 
the Captain's share in the property of the ship and stores, which 
amounted in all to 6000Z. additional, Mr. Haldane wrote strongly 
recommending that this offer should be accepted. His letter deci- 
ded the matter, and Captain Haldane returned with his wife to 
Scotland early in the summer of 1794. 

During that summer they resided chiefly at Stirling Castle and 
at Airthrey. On the 6th October, their first child, Elizabeth, 
was born, and in less than a month afterwards the death of Major 
Joass dissolved their connection with Stirling Castle, and all its 
agreeable associations. A letter from Sir Kalph Abercromby on 
the marriage of his niece has been already given. The following, 
addressed by him to his sister on the removal of her husband, 
was written in the midst of the disastrous campaign in Holland, 
and a few days after his wound in the successful sally on the 
French at Nimmegen : — 

" Elst, November 16^, 1794. 

" My dear Sister, — From my not writing, I trust you will not 
accuse me of unkindness. With Mrs. Abercromby alone I cor- 
respond, and it sometimes happens that I have not an opportu- 
nity. She has regularly informed me of everything that related 
to your family. I cannot but feel severely a change that has 
lately taken place in it. I have lost an old and a most worthy 
friend. It would have given me the greatest satisfaction had 
providence so ordered it, that we should have met once more 
after the end of all these troubles. He is gone to a better world, 
and is relieved from the pains of this. It is an event which you 
and all his family foresaw. Still that does not diminish the 
severity of the stroke. I am told Mr. Haldane is an excellent 
young man, with a great share of humanity, and that his conduct 
at this trying time has been most praiseworthy. I hope it will 
always be so, and that he and his wife will be a comfort and con- 
solation to you. Knowing your sensibility I much fear your 
health must have suffered. You must endeavor to support your- 
self from such motives as reason and religion will suggest. I 
have a distant hope that I may see you this winter. I shall prob- 



VISITS THE NORTH SEA FLEET. 75 

ably find you near us all. I beg to be kindly remembered to Mr. 
and Mrs. Haldane. Believe me to be. my dear Sister, 
"Yours, ever most affectionately, 

"Ea. Abercromby." 

On leaving Stirling Castle, Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Haldane at first 
took a house in George-square, Edinburgh, and were led to attend 
the ministry of the excellent Dr. Walter Buchanan, who, as al- 
ready remarked, had formerly been minister of Stirling, and of 
whom it is said by Mr. Simeon, that he was a " Scotch minister, 
11 whom I think it one of the greatest blessings of my life ever to 
" have known." They were also introduced about the same time 
to the Keverend David Black, the minister of Lady Yester's 
Church, who was eminently a man of God and a promoter of all 
good works. These good men found him an earnest inquirer into 
the things of God, and were no doubt useful in directing his 
spiritual studies. But his progress was gradual, as will be seen 
hereafter. 

The history of James Haldane's life has now been conducted 
to the end of 1795. In the summer of that year he had made a 
visit of some length to his uncle, on board the Venerable, when 
the North Sea fleet was in the Downs. His frequent reference, 
more than fifty years afterwards, to the incidents which then oc- 
curred, indicated the pleasurable excitement he enjoyed as a guest 
under the flag of his distinguished relative. It was about the 
time when Admiral Cornwallis made his celebrated and success- 
ful retreat with only five ships, which repulsed and kept at bay 
twelve French sail of the line with as many frigates. He used to 
relate how Admiral Duncan, on a visit to Walmer Castle, found 
Mr. Pitt in deep despondency, considering the capture of Corn- 
wallis and his little fleet inevitable ; and how the Premier was re- 
assured, although still half-skeptical, when his gallant visitor 
scouted his apprehensions and forbade him to think so meanly of 
five British men-of-war. " What," said Mr. Pitt, " do you think 
that, against such odds, they have a chance ?" "A chance, Sir !" 
exclaimed the veteran chief, " Frenchmen do not yet know how 
to take a British ship." Mr. Pitt was cheered, though incredu- 
lous, and invited the Admiral to dine with him a day or two after- 
wards. On the morning of that day the news of the repulse of 
the French, and the safe arrival of the intrepid Cornwallis, reach- 
ed the Downs, but, by some mistake, the welcome intelligence had 



76 ANECDOTE OF LOKD ST. VINCENT. 

not been forwarded to Mr. Pitt. On going in the afternoon to 
dinner, the Admiral, on entering the reception -room and shaking 
hands with Mr. Pitt, exclaimed, "Give yon joy, Sir!" Mr. Pitt, 
oppressed with anxieties, had relapsed into his former despon- 
dency, and observed, "Joy I Admiral — what joy? Nothing is 
yet known of the fate of Cornwallis." An explanation soon put 
Mr. Pitt in possession of the agreeable tidings, that Frenchmen 
did not yet know the art of taking British ships, and British sea- 
men did not know when they ought to consider themselves beat- 
en. He declared that the Admiral had taken a load from off his 
mind, and that he never sat down to dinner with a lighter heart. 
It was at Walmer Castle that the celebrated Marquis of Wellesley 
used to meet Lord Duncan, at the time when he describes the 
Premier's admiration of the joyous and gallant bearing of the hero 
of Camperdown. 

Mr. J. A. Haldane used also to tell how it happened, about the 
time of his visit to the Yenerable, that Admiral Duncan had been 
the means of pressing the services of Sir John Jervis on the notice 
of the Premier, and overcoming his prejudices against an officer 
who had joined in characterizing the war as "unnecessary, im- 
politic, and lamentable." On Sir Charles Hotham's recall, the 
appointment of Commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean was 
first offered to Lord Duncan. But he was so well satisfied of the 
importance of the command in the North Seas, that he the more 
easily allowed other considerations to weigh in his determination 
to decline the proposed change. He was next consulted by Mr. 
Pitt, Lord Melville, and Lord Spencer, as to the fittest officer for 
that post, and he told them that, beyond all doubt, it was Sir 
John Jervis. It was objected that he had too much mixed him- 
self up with politics, and too strongly reprobated the war, to 
render it expedient to nominate so decided an opponent of the 
Government. But Lord Duncan still insisted that his friend's 
qualifications were paramount to all party considerations, and 
Mr. Pitt was at length convinced. To this circumstance Lord St. 
Vincent's career of distinction may probably be traced. This fact 
is not generally known, and is not mentioned in any of the Lives 
of Lord St. Vincent ; but it rests on the undoubted evidence of 
Lord Duncan's nephew, who was with him about the time, and 
heard all the details of these discussions after the appointment 
had been confirmed. Lord Duncan was himself so unostentatious, 
and so little disposed to boast, that even his own early services at 



PROGRESS OF THE CHANGE. 77 

the Havannah, Belleisle, St. Vincent, and Gibraltar, would have 
been comparatively unnoticed, had it not been that Lord Spencer, 
without a prompter, remembered " Keppell's Captain." His 
Lordship's choice was rewarded by the undaunted firmness which 
maintained the blockade of the Dutch fleet during the mutiny of 
the Nore, and by the splendor of his victory off Camperdown, 
which at once crushed the naval power of republican Holland, 
and effectually warded off the intended invasion of Ireland. 

When Mr. J. A. Haldane returned to Edinburgh, his mind 
became more and more occupied with religious inquiry ; and a 
reference to his own recollections will enable us to trace its 
progress. 

" On my return to Scotland, I continued to inquire about 
religion more from a conviction of its importance than any deep 
conviction of sin. I was, however, sensible I had been a great 
sinner, but my views of God's mercy were such that I was under 
no great alarm. A Socinian minister with whom I met was of 
use to me (a Mr. Edwards), not from conversation, but because 
his opinions brought the great mystery of godliness under my 
consideration. When I heard of the controversy respecting the 
person of Christ, it did not seem to me of very great importance. 
I had what the world calls charity for both parties, thinking 
both were Christians. When the matter was discussed I took 
the side to which I had been accustomed, but I had hardly any 
opinion on the subject. A conversation I heard between a person 
who was arguing, if not in favor of Socinianism, at least taking 
from them any degree of guilt or danger for their opinions, and 
an eminently pious man, now in glory, struck me much. The 
latter was not disputing for victory, but maintaining that truth 
which was sweeter to his soul than the honeycomb. Christ was 
precious to him, and he justly considered that those could not be 
his friends who degraded his character. I shall never forget the 
earnestness with which he said, ' If I did not know my Saviour 
to be God, I should this night lie down in despair ; the Scriptures 
could, in this case, convey no comfort to my mind.' The ex- 
pression struck me much, and led me to compare my views of 
Christ with his. I compared the Scriptures which he and others 
quoted, and the result was a conviction that Jesus was indeed the 
Son of the living God. I took some opportunities of conversing 
with the person to whom I have alluded, and, being desirous of 
having my mind satisfied and of submitting to the truth, I soon 



78 PKOGRESS OF THE CHANGE. 

became more established in this fundamental and most impor- 
tant of all truths. Conversations I had with two pious ministers* 
were also very useful to me. They saw I was inquiring, that I 
was indeed desirous to know the truth, and bore with much self- 
confidence, which I displayed in argument, of which, at that time, 
I was particularly fond. Fuller's " Comparison of Calvinism and 
Socinianism" was peculiarly useful to me, not so much from the 
general argument, which is admirably conducted, as that it brought 
into my view that text in Job where he expresses self-loathing 
and abhorrence. I saw that my views of sin must be very inade- 
quate, and I asked of God to teach me all he would have me to 
know. I shall here remark, that the principal benefit I received 
from reading other books than the Bible was, that they explained 
to me more fully those doctrines of which I was before satisfied, 
for I was too fond of my own opinions to read those books which 
opposed them. I did, however, consider the Scripture as a cer- 
tain authority. As soon as I found it against any of my opinions, 
I readily gave them up. My thoughts began now to be particu- 
larly turned to election, a doctrine which, indeed, was foolishness 
unto me ; it seemed so irrational, that I thought I should never 
embrace it. A good minister, with whom I frequently conversed 
on the subject, told me, I should by and by change my opinion. 
I thought it impossible : and so much attached was I to my own 
way of thinking, that I could hardly suppose that sensible, good 
men, did really believe the contrary. I always thought that I 
had the better in argument on this subject. I was well pleased 
to enter upon it, and although every conversation left me more 
established in my own opinion, yet they were afterwards of use. 
Once in particular that minister read to me the first chapter of 
the Ephesians, and said, if the doctrine was not clearly established 
by that passage, any meaning whatever might be affixed to Scrip- 
ture. This passage made some impression on my mind. But 
however erroneous my views were, my whole thoughts were en- 
grossed about religion. Having nothing particular to occupy my 
attention, I meditated on these things and gave myself wholly to 
them. I hardly read any but religious books, and it was my 
chief concern to know the will of God. This, however, afforded 
food for pride, — I thought my attainments were great, and had 
much self-righteousness. Although I professed that my hope was 
fixed in Jesus Christ, yet my doings were not wholly forgotten. 
* Probably Dr. Innes and Mr. Shireff. 



DOCTRINE OF ELECTION. 79 

1 gradually, moreover, got clearer views of the Gospel ; and, in 
reading the Acts of the Apostles, xvii. 4-8, ' As many as were 
ordained to eternal life believed,' my whole system, as to free will, 
was overturned. I saw that being ordained to eternal life was 
not the consequence of faith, but that the children of God believed 
because they were thus ordained. This gave a considerable blow 
to my self-righteousness, and henceforth I read the Scriptures 
more in a childlike spirit, for hitherto I was often obliged to 
search for some interpretation of Scripture which would agree 
with my system. I now saw more of the freeness of the grace 
of the Gospel, and the necessity of being born again, and was 
daily looking for satisfactory evidence of this change. My desire 
was now set upon frames and feelings, instead of building on the 
sure foundation. I got no comfort in this way. Gradually be- 
coming more dissatisfied with myself, being convinced especially 
of the sin of unbelief, I wearied myself with looking for some 
wonderful change to take place, — some inward feeling, by which 
I might know that I was born again. The method of resting 
simply on the promises of God, which are yea and amen in Jesus 
Christ, was too plain and easy, and like Naaman, the Syrian, 
instead of bathing in Jordan and being clean, I would have some 
great work in my mind to substitute in place of Jesus Christ. 
The Lord gradually opened my eyes ; He always dealt with me 
in the tenderest manner, and kept me from those horrors of mind 
which, in my ignorance and pride, I had often desired as a proof 
of my conversion. The dispensations of his providence towards 
me much favored the teaching which He has vouchsafed to afford. 
The conversations of some of the Lord's people with whom I was 
acquainted were helpful to my soul ; and, in particular, I may 
here add, that the knowledge of Scripture which I acquired in 
early life was very useful to me when my views were directed to 
the great concerns of eternity. Many things were then brought 
to my remembrance which I had learned when young, although 
they seemed wholly to have escaped while I was living in forget- 
fulness of God. Instead of those deep convictions which are 
experienced by some with much horror of mind, the Lord has 
rather shown me the evil of sin in the sufferings of his dear Son, 
and in the manifestation of that love which, whilst it condemns 
the past ingratitude, seals the pardon of the believing sinner. In 
short, I now desire to feel, and hope, in some measure, that I do 
feel, as a sinner who looks for salvation freely by grace ; who 



80 DOCTKINE OF ELECTION. 

prefers this method of salvation to every other, because thereby 
God is glorified through Jesus Christ, and the pride of human 
glory stained. I desire daily to see more of my own unworthi- 
ness, and that Jesus Christ may be more precious to my soul. I 
depend on him for sanctification as well as for deliverance from 
wrath, and am in some measure (would it were more !) convinced 
of my own weakness and his all-sufficiency. When I have most 
comfort, then does sin appear most hateful ; and I am in some 
measure made to rejoice in the hope of being completely delivered 
from it by seeing, in all his beauty, Him who was dead and is 
alive, and liveth for evermore. Amen." 

These were the notes of Mr. J. A. Haldane's confession of faith 
on the occasion of his ordination. He held fast the beginning 
of his confidence steadfast to the end, and with unswerving 
consistency maintained the same doctrines down to the very close 
of life. 



CHAPTER IV. 

[1794—1795.] 

The ten years which immediately followed Robert Haldane's 
abandonment of the naval profession, after the peace - of 1783, was 
a period of much activity and interest. But like the first twenty 
years of his early life, it was one of peculiar training for loftier 
and more enduring objects. For two years he had chiefly devoted 
himself to a voluntary course of study at Gosport and at Edin- 
burgh. He had next made the tour of Europe, and after his 
marriage, he turned, with characteristic intensitj r , to country pur- 
suits, determined to master agriculture, both practically and as a 
science, in this respect setting an example to his neighbors, and 
acquiring the reputation of being a better farmer than many, 
with whom it had been the business of their lives. His skill 
in landscape-gardening and in planting was exhibited at Airthrey, 
as it was afterwards still more conspicuous at Auchingray, where 
the resources of art were not so much favored by the beauties of 
nature. 

But the spell by which his mind had been bound to the world 
and the passing things of time was now to be broken, and the 
same process of spiritual renewal which, during the winter of 
1794, had been at work in the heart of his younger brother, was 
soon to operate on his own. It is a singular but a remarkable 
fact, which he has himself left on record, that he was aroused 
from the sleep of spiritual death by the excitement of the French 
Revolution. 

That great moral and political convulsion was not unforeseen. 
Its approach had been discerned in the demoralization of a profli- 
gate Court, a corrupt aristocracy, an infidel priesthood, and an 
overburdened people. The social disruption of France had been 
foretold by Lord Chesterfield and other keen political observers. 



82 FRENCH REVOLUTION". 

Yet it came upon Europe like an earthquake, casting down 
thrones, coronets, and altars, mingling in one heap of ruins the 
trophies of feudal grandeur and the monuments of sacerdotal 
tyranny. Like most young men of ardent, generous, and ener- 
getic minds, Robert Haldane was roused as from a lethargy by 
the events passing around him. He saw, or imagined he saw, 
through the gloom, the prospect of a new and better order of 
things, when oppression and immorality would cease, and Gov- 
ernments would be regulated by a paramount regard for the wel- 
fare of the people. He admitted that good and evil were wildly 
contending for the mastery, but he was sanguine as to the result, 
and dropped out of his calculations the corruption of human 
nature, and the hopelessness of any renovation apart from the in- 
fluence of a Divine agency. But he was neither discontented him- 
self, nor impatient of any real or fancied grievances, and was there- 
fore practically little disposed to disturb the order of society in his 
own country, or to countenance levelling principles, either in regard 
to rank or property. He stood aloof from all political societies, 
and steadily refused every invitation to countenance, either by his 
name, his presence, or his purse, the meetings or the plans of the 
11 friends of the people." So far as property was concerned, he 
had everything to lose, and little to hope for, in the event of 
change. In regard to social rank, he was himself satisfied with 
his own position, and by no means ambitious of distinction. 
Whilst he did not envy those above him, as little was he disposed 
to countenance the encroachments of levellers. He valued 
ancient descent and old nobility, not as things possessing any 
intrinsic value in themselves, but as links in the chain which help 
to secure stability to the State, or, in the words of Burke, " pro- 
tect it against the levity of "Courts, and the greater levity of the 
multitude." 

His supposed democratic tendencies were afterwards studiously 
exaggerated and misrepresented by those, who wished to cast dis- 
credit on his designs for the propagation of Christianity. Beyond, 
however, all doubt, he was for a time somewhat dazzled with the 
delusive prospect of a new order of things. It is remarked by 
Mr. Alison, in speaking of the French Revolution : " The young, 
the ardent, the philosophical were sanguine in their expectations 
of its success ; a new era seemed to have dawned upon the world, 
from the rise of freedom in that great empire ; the fetters of slav- 
ery and the bonds of superstition seemed to be dropping from the 



POLITICAL OPINIONS. 83 

hands of the human race. It was not merely the factious, the 
restless, and the ambitious who entertained these opinions ; they 
were shared by many of the best and wisest of men ; and in 
England it might with truth be said, what an eloquent historian 
has observed of Europe in general, that the friends of the French 
Revolution comprised at that period the most enlightened and 
generous of the community."* 

But if the bold, the ardent, the enlightened, the generous, and 
the speculative, who had life before them, looked with pleasurable 
interest on these revolutionary changes, and "hoped even against 
hope" in the midst of sanguinary violence, another and still more 
influential portion of the community regarded these movements 
with unmixed horror. For the most part, those who had passed 
through life and had property to lose, as well as the timid and 
the peaceful, trembled lest the political contagion should spread ; 
whilst the adherents of the Established Churches, both in England 
and Scotland, and a great majority of the landed aristocracy, 
were united with the holders of office in deprecating all political 
discussion. 

Society was thus divided, and in no part of the empire did the 
divisions rise to such a pitch of violence as in Scotland. Had Mr. 
Haldane been generally met by men of large and enlightened 
minds, his ardent wishes for the amelioration of mankind, as 
expressed in private, would have been more candidly judged, 
and he would not have been tempted occasionally to defend 
measures or principles tending to excess. The most eminently 
pious ministers within a wide circuit round Airthrey eagerly 
sought his society, and discerned in his impatience of "all the 
oppressions done under the sun," and in his repugnance to follow 
the beaten track, the hope of a blessed change, when, with a 
ripened understanding and a renewed heart, the same generous 
impulses would direct his steps into the paths of Christianized 
philanthropy. They rightly judged that even then he was nearer 
the kingdom of God than many of the alarmists, who were most 
shocked at the freedom of his sentiments, and his aversion to a 
war with France, which, like his old commander, Lord St. Vin- 
cent, he regarded as "unnecessary, impolitic, and lamentable." 
With secular men of enlarged views, whom he valued and 
respected, there was indeed no serious collision of sentiment. 
With Sir Ralph Abercromby, who belonged to Mr. Pitt's party, 

Vol. i. p. S21. 



84 ANECDOTE — ARDOCH. 

his intercourse up to the middle of 1793 had been intimate and 
mutually satisfactory. At a still later period it is evident, from 
the letter already quoted, that he had not lost the confidence of 
that great man, when he alluded to " the good principles of the 
family" into which his niece was about to marry. There are other 
circumstances from which it is clear that Robert Haldane's san- 
guine hopes of the French Revolution had not interrupted his 
intercourse even with some of the chief members of the Govern- 
ment. With Mr. Pitt's bosom friend, Mr. Secretary Dundas, he 
continued to be on very excellent terms, and was a visitor at 
Dunira when party spirit had begun to run high. Even after his 
brother's return home, so late as the summer of 1794, the Duke of 
Montrose, then Lord-Lieutenant of the county, and an active 
member of Mr. Pitt's Government, was himself a guest at Airthrey. 
These facts are scarcely necessary to refute the exaggerations 
afterwards industriously circulated, concerning his extreme polit- 
ical opinions, and anything so ridiculous would not now have 
been referred to, had it not been for the revival, hereafter to be 
noticed, of old and forgotten misrepresentations in the unsatisfac- 
tory Life of Mr. Wilberforce, by his sons. 

But Mr. Haldane was fond of argument, and often took a kind 
of pleasure in startling the prejudices of narrow-minded squires, 
for whom prospects of social amelioration had no charms. Impa- 
tient of any semblance of sympathy with the changes in progress, 
they were yet eager to engage him in debate, and, conscious of 
his superiority, they would invite some man of ability or skill, 
generally a lawyer on circuit, such as Mr. Maconochie, the first 
Lord Meadowbank, or Mr. Graham ; of Meiklewood, to meet him, 
and act as the champions of their own opinions. It was to one 
of these occasions that he alluded on his death-bed, in 1842, when 
reviewing his past history, and extolling that watchful providence 
which had preserved him during his early life, whilst living at a 
distance from God. He had been dining at Ardoch, then the 
residence of a well-known Baronet, some miles to the northwest 
of Airthrey. According to the custom of the times, the gentle- 
men had sat long after the ladies had left the dinner-table. Mr. 
Haldane had argued much. It was late, and the night was dark. 
He had intended to ride across the Sheriff Moor, but Mrs. Hal- 
dane, apprehensive of the danger, remained longer than she 
would otherwise have done, to convey him home in her carriage. 
He had, however, ordered his horse, and would not be persuaded 



THE CRISIS. 85 

to go by the circuitous highway road through Dumblane and the 
Bridge of Allan. Heated with wine, and excited by argument, 
he mounted and galloped off, crossing the open moor, and dash- 
ing through the broken ground and woods of Pendrich and 
Airthrey, regardless of the imminent risk to which he was ex- 
posed. He reached home more speedily, and in safety, but it 
may indicate the impression which this recollection made upon 
the mind of a man not much disposed to talk of dangers, that in 
the weakness and exhaustion of ebbing life, he mentioned this 
preservation as one of the leading events in his history, on the 
review of which he was filled with mingled emotions of humble 
penitence and adoring gratitude. He said, that on this and other 
occasions, he felt that he must have perished had he not been 
held in the grasp of Omnipotence. 

It will be at once understood, from what has been said of his 
political opinions, how easy it was, at a time of such party vio- 
lence, to exaggerate and pervert them, especially after his religious 
movements had provoked opposition. But his own account of 
the matter, published in 1800, has completely disposed of what 
he himself termed the "gross misrepresentations of his conduct 
and views."* The narrative is the more interesting, as it, in fact, 
contains the history of that spiritual change of heart through 
which he was enabled to discover the only true source of happi- 
ness, whether personal, social, or political. 

After stating that there could be no vanity in asserting that he 
was amongst the foremost of those whose political opinions were, 
at that period of religious excitement, misrepresented, he pro- 
ceeds : — " Until the commencement of the French Revolution, I 
had never particularly turned my attention to political discussion. 
I had read Delolme's Treatise and Blackstone's ' Commentaries on 
the laws of England,' and was a sincere admirer of the British 
Constitution. I had also perused with much satisfaction Smith's 
1 Inquiries into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.' 
The first books I read upon the subject of government, after the 
change that took place in France, were Mr. Burke's i Reflections,' 
Mackintosh's 'Vindiciae Gallicae,' and afterwards several of the 
pamphlets by Christie, Paine, Barlow, Priestley, and others, which 
appeared in such great numbers about that time. Although I 
did not exactly agree with these writers, nor, indeed, with any 
that I happened to meet with, a scene of melioration and im- 
* " Address on Politics." 1800. 



86 THE CRISIS. 

provement in the affairs of mankind seemed to open itself to my 
mind, which, I trusted, would speedily take place in the world, 
such as the universal abolition of slavery, of war, and of many 
other miseries that mankind were exposed to, which appeared to 
me wholly to result from the false principles upon which the an- 
cient governments have been constructed. I exulted in this 
prospect from motives of benevolence, and, as far as I know, 
without any allowed mixture of selfishness. I rejoiced in the 
experiment that was making in France, of the construction of a 
Government at once from its foundation upon a regular plan, which 
Hume, in his Essays, speaks of as an event so much to be desired. 

"In every company I delighted in discussing this favorite sub- 
ject, and endeavored to point out the vast advantages that I 
thought might be expected as the result. At this time I was in 
habits of intimacy with some very worthy clergymen, residing at 
and in the neighborhood of Stirling. They were acquainted 
with a principle I did not then admit, and which, although a 
fundamental part of the creeds of the Established Churches both 
of England and Scotland, is not generally admitted, — I mean, 
the total corruption of human nature. Eeasoning from their firm 
persuasion of this truth, they assured me that such effects as I 
expected, unquestionably so desirable in themselves, could not 
flow from any change from government, and that the cruelties in 
France, then beginning to be exercised, were the natural effect of 
certain circumstances in which the people of that country stood, 
and would, in a greater or less degree, take place in any country 
in a similar situation. I widely differed from them, and con- 
tinued to manifest my own opinions, ascribing all, or most of the 
enormities of the French, solely to the state of degradation to 
which I thought their minds had been reduced during the ancient 
despotic Government. 

" Numerous political Societies, about the same time, were estab- 
lished in England and Scotland, but of these I expressed my 
decided disapprobation, and never went near a single one of 
them. I always thought, that by them the minds of the people 
were much more likely to be inflamed than informed, and that 
they were calculated to produce confusion rather than reforma- 
tion. Besides, as I saw so many well-informed men, who had 
at first approved of the French Revolution, beginning to set 
themselves directly against any change in this country, I was 
persuaded it would ensure the most dreadful consequences were 



MEETING AT STIRLING. 87 

any attempt to that purpose to be made by these Societies or 
their leaders. The French were making the experiment upon 
themselves; from them I wished to see its effects. I thought 
that these would be so good as soon to convince other nations, 
and make them willing to follow their example, and I hoped that 
this might one day take place without either bloodshed or loss of 
property. 

"I am sure these were distinctly my sentiments at the time my 
mind was most filled with political speculations ; as I recollect, 
when the Societies were set on foot, that I wrote a letter to a 
friend, expressing my strong disapprobation of them, containing 
also the other opinions I have just mentioned. This letter he 
showed to several persons at the time, and, for aught I know, it 
may remain to this day. I there took pains fully to declare my 
sentiments, and kept a copy of it, and of another letter, in which 
I expressed my abhorrence of all secret cabals or open violence 
against the Government, and these, together with a speech I de- 
livered at Stirling in a County Meeting, which I had accurately 
written, I should have been inclined to have inserted here, had 
I not a considerable time ago committed them all to the flames, 
as treating of a subject which I had renounced forever. 

"Having mentioned that speech, it may be proper to say 
something concerning it, as it made some noise at the time, and 
being the only circumstance in my public conduct that could be 
taken hold of, has been carefully kept in remembrance, much miss- 
tated, and made a ground of accusation against me to this very day. 

" A meeting of the freeholders of the county of Stirling was 
called on the 1st of July, 179-1, to consider the propriety of arm- 
ing corps of volunteers throughout the county, at which his 
Grace the Duke of Montrose was in the chair. I had never 
before in public delivered my sentiments respecting any political 
subject; but when called upon in my place, I thought it proper 
to come forward and explicitly to avow them. The view I took 
of the question before the meeting was, that all those who disap- 
proved of the present war must, to be consistent, oppose the 
measure of forming volunteer corps, as arming the men who 
should compose them would only enable Government to send 
more of the regular forces out of the kingdom, and so to persist 
in the war ; but would add nothing to the internal security of 
the country, the professed object of the measure. Besides that, 
as it was said many were disaffected to Government, the measure 



88 SPEECH AT STIRLING. 

itself must be dangerous, by putting arms into the hands of such ; 
and, at any rate, that it seemed an attempt to govern the country 
by force, which, if the majority of the people were disaffected, 
would be impossible, if otherwise unnecessary. I then delivered 
my opinion upon what I conceived the impolicy and unjustness 
of the war. I afterwards described what I considered to be the 
true character of a person properly called a democrat, as a friend 
of his country, a lover of peace, and one who cherished the sen- 
timents of general benevolence, and contrasted it with that of 
persons who held opposite sentiments, who were desirous of hug- 
ging their prejudices, and of adapting the maxims of Government 
belonging to the seventeenth to the end of the eighteenth century, 
a period so much more enlightened. I next endeavored to describe 
the bad effects of prejudice and of undistinguishing resistance to 
everything new, although confessedly far the better, as exempli- 
fied in the history of all nations, and particularly in the history 
of the Reformation. I afterwards took a view of the advantages 
which I was confident the world would derive from the principles 
of freedom being better understood in the universal peace and 
security that would consequently prevail ; although I observed 
an attempt to strangle these principles in their birth, by the con- 
vulsed grasp of the expiring monster despotism, had caused the 
most dreadful disturbances in Europe. I then declared to the 
freeholders, that I thought they would have been much better 
employed had they been meeting to consider how all abuses that 
were generally allowed to be such might be reformed, than in 
following the example of those Societies, who had most improp- 
erly intended to arm, but who might easily be prevented from 
doing mischief by that power which Government already pos- 
sessed. I added, that from their situation in life, they would as- 
suredly have much more influence with their countrymen in any 
other way than as armed men. And I concluded the whole with 
a solemn declaration of my conviction of the propriety and truth 
of the sentiments I had stated. 

"The above is an accurate account of the leading features of 
what I said that day, and I am persuaded those who were present 
will bear witness to the faithfulness of this report. The above 
speech created to me many enemies, and caused much misrepre- 
sentation, but the consequences of it, I reckon, were eventually 
very happy. It produced, indeed, a considerable coolness and 
distance on the part of some of the neighboring country gentle- 



CLEKGY NEAR AIRTHREY. 89 

men ; but this led me into the company of others, from whom I 
derived more advantage. 

" I have mentioned above that I was frequently in company 
with several respectable clergymen, who lived in my neighbor- 
hood. However much, from knowing more of the actual state of 
human nature, they might perceive the improbability of attaining 
universal peace and justice in the world, and of all human affairs 
being conducted upon these principles, they nevertheless thought 
me sincere ; and instead of withdrawing from my company, con- 
stantly attempted to lead my mind to infinitely higher concerns 
than those I had hitherto pursued. 

" With this view, they persevered, and often sat till a late hour 
at night (when, perhaps, they had to rise early to depart to their 
parochial duty), conversing after the period above alluded to 
(viz., the meeting of freeholders of the county of Stirling), not 
always on political arrangements, on the government of this 
world, as was commonly supposed, and falsely reported, although 
of these we also spake, but chiefly upon the concerns of our im- 
mortal souls, and the things that belonged to our everlasting 
peace. The effects have been profitable to them and to me, and 
such, I trust, as they and I shall mutually rejoice in when time 
shall be no more. 

" Conversing with these gentlemen, and reading a good deal 
upon the subject of religion, I was brought gradually to perceive 
in some measure the glory of the doctrines held out in Scripture, 
and the consistency of the truth as it is in Jesus. I became 
anxious to be better informed, and daily gave myself more and 
more to the investigation of it. I happened to be at a friend's 
house two winters, in a situation where I had much leisure for 
such inquiries. I enjoyed great comfort in pursuing them, and 
think I can truly say, that under a deep sense of my own ignor- 
ance in the things that related to God, and considerable perplexity, 
amidst opposite opinions on the subject, I earnestly besought the Lord 
that he would enable me to distinguish between truth and falsehood. 
" I know it has been said that at one period I was a Socinian. 
The report is not true. A Socinian clergyman, who accompanied 
a friend of mine (a Mr. Edwards, whose brother was an officer in 
the Foudroyant) upon a visit to England, was some time in the 
year 1793 at my house; we often discussed his sentiments, I 
constantly endeavoring, with the little knowledge I had upon 
the subject, to maintain the Trinitarian views, in which, in the 



90 PROGRESS OF THE CHANGE. 

language of the pastoral admonition, I had been a bred up." I 
used often to retail his arguments, partly to learn from others 
better informed than I was, what could be urged against them, 
and also to dispute upon the subject as a matter of speculative 
inquiry, without any proper impression of its awful solemnity or 
importance. Indeed, the fact was, I neither understood the one 
side of the question nor the other. But I recollect, when I came 
seriously to consider the matter, I was three or four days really 
in doubt whether it much signified what I believed concerning 
this doctrine : but I did not long continue uncertain respecting 
its importance, although it was some time before my mind was 
settled, and I never did profess to be a Socinian. 

" After I returned home, the same subjects chiefly occupied 
my attention ; and whatever good or harm the study of politics 
may have done to others, they certainly led the way to much 
good to me. 

"Before the French Ee volution, having nothing to rouse my 
mind, I lived in the countay, almost wholly engaged by country 
pursuits, little concerned about the general interests or happiness 
of mankind, but selfishly enjoying the blessings which God, in 
his providence, had so bountifully poured upon me. As to reli- 
gion, I contented myself with that general profession which is so 
common and so worthless, and that form of godliness which com- 
pletely denies its power. I endeavored to be decent, and what is 
called moral, but was ignorant of my lost state by nature, as well 
as of the strictness, purity, and extent of the Divine law. While 
I spoke of a Saviour, I was little acquainted with his character, 
the value of his sufferings and death, the need I stood in of the 
atoning efficacy of his pardoning blood, or of the imputation of 
his perfect obedience and meritorious righteousness, and of the 
sanctifying influences of the Eternal Spirit to apply his salvation 
to my soul. When politics began to be talked of, I was led to 
consider everything anew. I eagerly catched at them as a pleasing 
speculation. As a fleeting phantom, they eluded my grasp ; but 
missing 'the shadow, I caught the substance — and while obliged 
to abandon these confessedly empty and unsatisfactory pursuits, 
I obtained in some measure the solid consolations of the gospel ; 
so that I may say, as Paul concerning the Gentiles of old, ' He 
was found of me who sought him not.' " 

It will be seen from these extracts, that Mr. Haldane's con- 
version was neither sudden nor violent. It was the act of God, 



THE TWO BROTHERS. 91 

and, as such, mysterious in its origin, decisive in its character, and 
effectual in its results. The good seed had been deeply implanted 
in his own heart, and that of his brother, by the loving piety of 
an affectionate and God-fearing mother. To her latest breath it 
had been watered by the earnest and anxious prayers with which 
she devoted her orphan children to the Lord, and, strong in faith, 
called down upon their heads the blessing of God Almighty. For 
a time the impression made upon their hearts by her instruction 
and example seemed indelible. Their nightly prayers by their 
bed-side were followed by conversation about their Saviour, such 
as their mother had delighted to encourage. Both seemed to take 
pleasure in heavenly things, and the elder expressed an inclina- 
tion for the ministry. But time wore on. Their mother was no 
longer near to warn, to admonish, to instruct. The world, with 
its amusements, its temptations, its attractions, seemed gradually 
to efface the impressions of early piety. By degrees all profession 
of religion was abandoned, and from an early period of their his- 
tory till the time when the elder brother had attained the age of 
thirty, and the younger the age of twenty-five, there was nothing 
in their religious character to distinguish them from the great 
majority of their friends and associates, who were living in the 
discharge of what they regarded as their social duties. They 
were at least as moral and correct in their deportment as their 
neighbors, but in other respects without any concern about Christ 
or eternity. 

But although the incorruptible seed was thus buried in the 
gaieties, the pleasures, the vanities, and the pursuits of the world, 
it was not destroyed. It was still destined to spring up through 
the life-giving influence of the Holy Spirit. It is remarkable 
that this change took place on both brothers, nearly at the same 
time, although it was in the younger first developed. From the 
moment when in January, 1794, he began to study his Bible on 
board the Melville Castle, his mind had become more and more 
intensely interested with Divine things. When he arrived at 
Airthrey, he found politics, rather than religion, the engrossing 
theme of conversation. With these subjects he could no longer 
exclusively occupy himself. A more glorious object had begun 
to engross his mind, and doubtless his change of character had its 
share of influence on his brother, who was yet occupied with the 
world. Him he accompanied to the Freeholders' Meeting in the 
County Hall at Stirling, and heard him deliver that remarkable 



92 INTERCOURSE WITH DR. INNES, ETC. 

speech, which, was to be so much, talked of, and to produce such 
results. It was chiefly distinguished for the boldness with which 
the speaker came forward, single-handed, in his place, in opposi 
tion to the Lord-Lieutenant and principal landholders, to express 
with equal force and eloquence sentiments which were admired 
by many of the lookers-on, but which were no doubt dangerous 
in their tendency, and eminently distasteful to the aristocracy of 
the county. The personal coldness which ensued was not likely 
to elicit concessions from Mr. Haldane, and he was not the man 
to quail before what was called the reign of terror in Scotland. 
But it threw him more into the society of pious and learned min- 
isters, such as Dr. Campbell of Kippen, afterwards of Edinburgh, 
much famed for his solid piety and massive theology ; Mr. Somer- 
ville of Stirling, and Mr. Shireff of St. Ninian's, each eminent for 
his masculine turn of thought and decision of character ; and Dr. 
Innes, chaplain to the Castle, and second minister of Stirling, 
whose agreeable conversation, pleasing manners, and attractive 
style of preaching, added weight to the influence of his consistent 
character and genuine Christianity. 

With these or others he often conversed, as he says, " till a 
late hour at night." It might rather be said till an early hour 
in the morning, for it was in the evening that he always most 
delighted to converse, and the lateness of the hours, both at 
night and in the morning, was one of the peculiarities for which 
Airthrey was in those days celebrated. His habits were in some 
degree the same till the close of his life ; and if he had a friend 
or a visitor with whom he particularly desired conversation, he 
generally chose the evening, immediately after family prayers, 
and seemed to lighten up with fresh vivacity and earnestness 
when others had retired to rest. 

No sooner was his mind directed to "the concerns of his 
immortal soul," than he pursued the subject with characteristic 
intensity. He was not a man to take things for granted, or to 
adopt superficial views of any subject which interested his mind. 
He began by reading much and deeply on the evidences of Chris- 
tianity, including not only Butler, Paley, Watson, and other 
popular writers, but such learned repositories of information as 
the ponderous volumes of Lardner. The fruits of his studies were 
long afterwards given to the public in his work on the Evidences 
of Christianity. But at this time they were greatly blessed to his 
own soul, for they were pursued with deep humility, and -with 



INSTRUCTION DERIVED FROM A MECHANIC. 93 

much prayer that the Lord would enable him " to distinguish be- 
tween truth and falsehood." No wonder, then, that he should 
have proved another instance of the Lord's gracious declaration, 
" If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, 
whether it be of God." 

There was a considerable similarity between the history of his 
spiritual illumination and that of his younger brother. In 
neither case was it to be attributed to any sudden impulse or 
external influence. It was not to be traced to the ministry or the 
instructions of any one in particular. From the conversation of 
several clergymen he derived light amidst the perplexities which 
impeded his inquiries. It was Dr. Innes who first induced him 
to commence family worship at Airthrey. But he used also to 
say, that although he traced his turning to God instrumentally to 
the early instructions of his mother, and never had been entirely 
without some convictions, from the time he was nine years old, 
and although he did not attribute his conversion to any other 
human agency, yet that, if he were to point out the individual 
from whom he derived most spiritual light at the beginning of 
his career, he would mention a journeyman mason, of the name 
of Klam, or Clam, of Menstrie. This good man was employed 
on some of the works at Airthrey, and was, like many of his 
class, especially in former times, not only remarkably intelligent, 
but well read in his Bible, and in the writings of the best old 
Scotch divines. With him Mr. Haldane once walked several 
miles through the woods of Airthrey to a distant part of the estate 
called Pendrich, and on the way the conversation turned from 
the subject of masonry, to the glory of the great Architect of the 
universe. The views of Divine truth, and of faith in the finished 
work of Christ, which this humble but intelligent and well-taught 
Christian unfolded, as they went along, were so plain and scrip- 
tural, and above all, so much divested of those balancing state- 
ments of truth by which Mr. Haldane had been perplexed, that 
he saw the Gospel to be indeed glad tidings, and ever afterwards 
looked back with thankfulness to that memorable walk, in which 
he began to discern more clearly that, in the matter of justification, 
faith must cast away all reliance on the shifting sands of frames 
or feelings, and fasten only upon the Eock of Ages. To recall 
the name of the almost forgotten stone-mason of Menstrie is a 
pleasing duty. It is one which will be found in the register of 
God, although lost in the records of man. 



CHAPTER V. 

[1795—1798.] 

The current of the narrative has now conducted us to the 
middle of 1795. In regard to each of the two brothers, the grand 
crisis of his life was decided, and a change had come over both, 
the results of which stretch into eternity. No longer engrossed 
with the passing vanities of this transitory world, its pleasures, 
its gains, or its glories, all their energies had become concentrated 
on a new and absorbing object. Each of them, by the rich mercy 
of God, had now passed " from death unto life," and from the 
bondage of Satan into the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Each was 
in Him " a new creature." " Old things had passed away." The 
strength of their natural character was now to be developed in re- 
lation to nobler and more enduring ends. 

Between the brothers there was much similarity in point of tal- 
ent and disposition, but there were also strong shades of differ- 
ence. Both were bold, ardent, and energetic; but in the elder 
there was a greater infusion of habitual caution. In both there 
was a deep, natural spring of genuine benevolence; but in the 
younger brother it was more apparent, and his affectionate friend- 
ship was in its generosity and disregard of self, in his earlier 
years, prone even to overleap the strict bounds of prudence. This 
had often been remarked by their schoolfellows ; for whilst both 
were daring, James was most ready to carry his object by a sud- 
den dash, whilst Eobert was more wary and thoughtful. Yet 
such are the contradictions that meet us in the analysis of charac- 
ter, that it sometimes happened in the course of their lives that 
Robert Haldane seemed to act upon impulse, when James hesi- 
tated and considered. This was in some measure the case with 
the scheme for a foreign mission, which Mr. Haldane adopted be- 
fore his brother had yet made up his mind as to any plan of active 
usefulness. 



MISSION TO BENGAL. 95 

It was at the period when, to use his own words, he had " ob- 
tained in some measure the consolations of the Gospel," that his 
attention was called to the importance of more decidedly attempt- 
ing to promote that " kingdom," for whose coming we are taught 
to pray. Dr. Innes has recorded the fact, that " having received, 
when in Stirling, the first number of the periodical accounts of 
the Baptist Mission in India," he sent it to Mr. Haldane, then liv- 
ing at Airthrey. He was exceedingly struck with this memorial 
of the first of those modern Missions to the heathen, which shed 
a ray of light over the moral darkness of a century then closing 
upon Europe amidst political and social convulsion. He was 
deeply impressed with the grandeur of the enterprise, and with the 
purity of the motives which had induced Dr. Carey to quit his 
native land to make known the Gospel in foreign parts. His mind, 
enlightened by a spark of heavenly fire, took a right estimate of 
the man whom the Marquis of Wellesley afterwards promoted to 
a Professorship in the College of Fort- William, but whom Sj^d- 
ney Smith, in his spiritual blindness, could ridicule as a " conse- 
crated cobbler." The Serampore Mission made a deep and indel- 
ible impression on Mr. Haldane's mind ; but Dr. Innes is mistaken 
in supposing that it was now for the first time, that he entered on 
the investigation of the evidences of the Christian faith. Mr. 
Haldane's own words are conclusive on this point, if there were 
no other record on the subject: "Some time after this (namely, 
after he had obtained the solid consolations of the Gospel), when 
I trust that I had been led to choose the good part which cannot 
be taken from any one, and to adopt the views of religion I now 
hold, I first heard of the Baptist Missionary Society, and their 
Mission to Bengal." But the amiable and excellent Dr. Innes' 
recollections are quite accurate, when he goes on to state the man- 
ner in which his friend became impressed with a sense of the ne- 
cessity of devoting himself — his life, his talents, his fortune — to 
the cause of God. "Christianity," he said, "is everything or 
nothing. If it be true, it warrants and commands every sacri- 
fice to promote its influence. If it be not, then let us lay aside 
thehy pocrisy of professing to believe it." " It immediately struck 
me," says Mr. Haldane, in his own narrative, " that I was spend- 
ing my time in the country to little profit, whilst, from the com- 
mand of property which, through the goodness of Gocl, I pos- 
sessed, I might be somewhere extensively useful." In another 
publication he says, that after his attention had been called to the 



96 LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 

salvation of Jesus Christ, "I had seen the accounts of the Bap- 
tist Mission in Bengal, which pointed out both the condition of 
the natives as destitute of the Gospel, and also the wide promising 
Held then opened for the exertions of Christians. A strong de- 
sire occupied my mind to engage in the honorable service. The 
object was of such magnitude, that, compared with it, the affairs 
of time appeared to sink into nothing, and no sacrifice seemed too 
great in order to its attainment." 

Still, although pondering this great design, he came to no sud- 
den determination. For nearly six months he considered the 
matter deliberately, and having proposed it to his wife, who had 
also been led to "■ choose the better part," and in whose hereditary 
prudence he placed much reliance, he obtained her cordial con- 
sent. About the end of 1795, the London Missionary Society 
was instituted by several eminent Christians, some of them mem 
bers of the Church of England, some Presbyterians, and some 
Independents. Amongst these was his old friend David Bogue, 
of Gosport, whose thrilling appeal on behalf of the Heathen had 
before this time roused a missionary spirit throughout the coun- 
try. Mr. Haldane was amongst the first in Scotland to enroll him 
self as a member of the Society, and in a brief summary of the 
chief incidents of his life, which he himself drew up in 1839, 
there is the following memorandum : — 

"1796. January. — Subscribed £50 to the London Missionary 
Society. Attended it (General Meeting) in May. In winter, in 
George's-street, North-side." 

It may be added, that his brother also marked his adhesion to 
the good cause by another donation of the same amount. 

About the time that the London Missionary Society was excit- 
ing the attention of Scotland, Dr. Innes, whose ministry at Stir- 
ling attracted much attention, was a frequent guest at Airthrey, 
and his mind was much occupied with the cause of Missions. To 
him, therefore, after conversing on the subject, Mr. Haldane pro- 
posed that they should " go to Bengal and. spend the remainder 
of their lives in endeavoring to communicate the precious truths 
of the Gospel to the Hindoos who were living under the British 
Government." "To render the Mission as efficient as possible, I 
wished," says Mr. H., "to take others with me, others in whose 
devotedness to the service of God I had confidence, and who, by 
their knowledge and previous habits at home, might be useful in 
the undertaking. Mr. Innes, with whom I had then frequent in- 



PROPOSAL TO DR. BOGUE. 97 

tercourse, appeared to be well qualified for the work, and I had 
long been acquainted with Mr. Bogue, of Gosport, who also 
seemed qualified for it, whilst the warm recommendations of Mr. 
Ewing by (his brother-in-law) Mr. Innes, directed my attention to 
him as a third associate. After Mr. Innes agreed to form one of 
the Mission, I went to England on purpose to see Mr. Bogue. 
When formerly in habits of intimacy with him, I had been unac- 
quainted with the Gospel, and although, from recollection, I be- 
lieved his sentiments respecting it corresponded with mine, I 
thought it was necessary, in so important a matter, fully to ascer- 
tain that this was the case. I accordingly went to London, and 
saw him at the meeting of the Missionary Society, and afterwards 
spent some time at his house at Gosport. ... I never gave 
Mr. Bogue a hint of the business till having been some time with 
him. I was satisfied with his qualifications for the work, and it 
was late one night (22d May, 1796), when he and I were sitting 
together, after the rest of the family had retired, that I opened to 
him my design, and without either hesitation or delay, he gave 
his consent to accompany me, and expressed his fullest approba- 
tion of the plan." 

The plan was grand and comprehensive, and, by the sale of Air- 
threy, ample funds were to be provided by Mr. Haldane. The 
venerable name of David Bogue, then in his forty-seventh year, was 
in itself a tower of strength, and would have added weight to any 
Christian enterprise. A man of Johnsonian character, capacious 
intellect, unflinching courage,* commanding stature, and dignified 
appearance, he added the reputation of a scholar and a philoso- 
pher to that of an experienced Christian and great theologian. 
Mr. Innes, although twenty years younger, was respected and be- 
loved by all who were capable of appreciating his devoted piet3 r , 
his consistent practice, and his attractive preaching. His brother- 
in-law, Mr. Greville Ewing, also under thirty, was not yet or- 
dained to a particular charge, but was assistant minister to the ex- 
cellent Dr. Jones, of Lady Glenorchy's Church, and, at a time of 
great spiritual deadness, was in high repute for his ardent zeal in 
the cause of truth, as well as for his literary tastes and his critical 
acquaintance with the Scriptures. Each was a regularly educated 

* Dr. Bennett, in his Life, mentions that he (Dr. Bogue) had not much of natural 
courage. Mr. Haldane often remarked that Dr. Bennett was greatly mistaken, and 
mentioned instances which he had witnessed of Dr. Bogue's courage, particularly on 
one occasion, when they were travelling at night, and met with some interruption 
on the road. 



yb PKINTING ESTABLISHMENT. 

minister, the one ordained, the other licensed by the Church of 
Scotland, and both willing to devote their lives and talents to the 
Indian Mission. 

But thej were not to have gone alone. Mr. John Ritchie, a 
highly respectable and pious printer in Edinburgh, was to have 
superintended a well-equipped printing establishment, whilst others 
were to have gone out as catechists, city missionaries, or school- 
masters. In short, no expense was to have been spared in fur- 
nishing all that was needed to make the Mission useful, whether 
as the means of publishing translations of the Scriptures and tracts, 
educating native teachers, or instructing native children. For 
every one concerned Mr. Haldane was to supply the necessary 
outfit and passage money, and also to provide an independent 
competence for those whose co-operation involved the loss of their 
means of subsistence. For each of his three ministerial coadjutors 
the sum of 3,500?. was to have been appropriated, as compensa- 
tion for the sacrifice of their incomes or prospects in a Church 
which did not promise great worldly emolument, and of which 
Lord Melville once said, that it was " founded on the rock of 
poverty." In addition to this provision and the first outfit, and 
to secure the Mission from the consequences of his own death, a 
further sum of 25,000?. or upwards was to have been invested in 
the names of trustees. 

Benares was the spot on which they were to unfurl the stand- 
ard of the cross, — Benares, the metropolis of Oriental Paganism, 
the holiest of the holy cities of the Hindoos, — Benares, with its 
glorious temples and gorgeous shrines, dedicated to the countless 
idols, worshipped beneath the burning sun, which sparkles in its 
crystal fountains, and gilds the glittering domes and minarets of 
its benighted population. It was a bold selection, characteristic 
of the founder of the Mission ; but although the time was not yet 
come for such an aggression on the empire of the prince of dark- 
ness, — although a massacre which happened a few years after- 
wards might have immolated these missionaries, — although near- 
ly thirty years later, Bishop Heber, in practical contradiction of 
the noble spirit which breathes through his Missionary hymn v 
pronounced a Mission to Benares "Utopian," — yet have we lived: 
to see that Pagan city occupied by Christian missionaries, who 
can tell of converts to the Gospel, rebuking the doubts of the ac- 
complished Prelate, and fully justifying the determination of 
Robert Haldane. 



ANECDOTE. 99 

The sacrifice of talents, of property, and of self, was to have 
been unreserved. Mr. Haldane was to sell his beautiful estate of 
Airthrey, much of which was ornamental, and productive of ex- 
pense rather than of income, whilst India was to have been the 
scene of his future labors and earthly existence. 

But man proposeth, God disposeth. To embark on such a 
mission without the consent of the East India Company and the 
Government, was an act of imprudence not likely to be commit- 
ted by a man of foresight and caution. Mr. Haldane went to 
London in May, 1796, partly to consult Dr. Bogue and solicit the 
needful permission, and partly to attend the first General Meeting 
of the Missionary Society. 

Mr. Haldane remained in England during the summer, and in 
the following November Mrs. Haldane, with their only child, a 
girl then under ten } T ears of age, joined her husband, having post- 
ed to London, under the escort of Mr. Ewing, who had been sent 
for to meet Dr. Bogue in London. 

Dr. Bogue's diary for May 22, 1796, contains this entry : " Mr. 
Haldane spoke to me about going on a mission to Hindostan." 
From the meetings in London he accompanied his old friend to 
Gosport, but for some time cautiously abstained from mentioning 
his own plans. The feelings with which he once more visited 
that warlike seaport were very different from those by which he 
had been actuated on former occasions, when full of naval zeal he 
had sailed from the same harbor in pursuit of victory, in the Mon- 
arch or in the Foudroyant, with Duncan or Jervisforhis captains, 
and Barrington or Howe for his admirals. An anecdote is told 
of him, connected with an old Scotch lady, from whom he had 
before received much kindness, and whose husband long filled a 
naval station at Portsmouth. It is only worth referring to as cal- 
culated to illustrate what was the natural gaiety of his character. 
He called on her one evening soon after his arrival at Gosport in 
1796, and was most kindly welcomed. Desirous to be useful to 
his old acquaintance, he asked Mrs. , before he rose to de- 
part, whether she would allow him to conduct family worship. 
The old lady herself had a great deal of humor ; she had been 
accustomed to Mr. Haldane from the time he was a boy, and knew 
the playfulness of his disposition, and how much he delighted in 
good-humored, practical jokes. Ignorant of the change which 
had taken place in his feelings and pursuits, she imagined when 



100 ME. WILBEEFOKCES PLANS DEFEATED. 

she now heard him propose to conduct family worship that he 
was in jest, and gravely rebuked what she justly deemed the im- 
propriety of trifling with sacred subjects. "Family worship!" 
she exclaimed, in broad Scotch accents ; " none of your jokes, 
" Mr. Haldane ; that's o'er serious a subject." Mr. Haldane with 
some difficulty convinced the good lady of her mistake, and that 
he was in earnest. Great was her astonishment. Those who only 
knew Mr. Haldane from the gravity of his writings and public 
character, could have no idea of the buoyancy of his spirit, and 
of his natural love of what was playful and jocose. At a late 
period of his life, many were the amusing anecdotes which his 
venerable aunt, Lady Duncan, used to tell of his own and his 
brother's youthful days at Gosport ; and he himself would some- 
times smile at the recital of some of the jokes, of which he was 
reminded, quietly adding some new point of interest which had 
been forgotten. 

The great objection to the evangelization of India, was to be 
found in the fears and the prejudices of the East India Company. 
That powerful commercial body had long ruled over India, with- 
out seeming to imagine that their mission extended beyond the 
material arrangements necessary for the acquisition of wealth, and 
the dispensation of patronage. At that period they had subjected 
themselves to the indignant eloquence of Burke, when, in his 
speech on the India Bill, he exclaimed, "With us no pride erects 
stately monuments which repair the mischiefs which pride has 
produced, and which adorn a country out of its own spoils. Eng- 
land has erected no churches, no hospitals, no palaces, no schools. 
England has built no bridges, made no high roads, cut no navi- 
gations, dug out no reservoirs. Every other conqueror, of every 
other description, has left some monument, either of state or benefi- 
cence, behind him. Were we to be driven out of India this day, 
nothing would remain to tell that it had been possessed during 
the inglorious period of our dominion by anything better than the 
ourang-outang, or the tiger." 

Mr. Pitt's Board of Control had introduced the commencement 
of a better system, so far as concerned civilization, but against 
every attempt to christianize the people there had been arrayed a 
dismal front of ghastly opposition. In 1793, when a new charter 
was granted, Mr. Wilberforce had succeeded in persuading the 
House of Commons, in general terms, to pledge themselves to the 
duty of "promoting, by all just and lawful means, the religious 



MR. HALDANE'S PRUDENCE. 101 

improvement of the natives." Two days afterwards, lie ventured 
on specific resolutions for establishing schoolmasters and chaplains 
throughout India, and he again succeeded. But the Court of 
Directors " met and strongly reprobated my clauses," and the re- 
sult is told in a letter to Mr. Gisborne : — " The East India Direc- 
tors and proprietors have triumphed. All my clauses were last 
night struck out in the third reading of the bill (with Dundas 7 
consent ! ! This is honor !) and our territories in Hindostan, 
twenty millions of people included, are left in the undisturbed and 
peaceable possession, and committed to the providential protection 
of Brama." (Life, vol. ii. 267.) 

Under these circumstances, for Mr. Haldane to have gone to 
India, as some advised, without the consent of the Company, was 
a proposal which would have been at variance with the wise fore- 
sight which always marked his character, and was discerned in 
the successful management of his own worldly affairs. The result 
might have been anticipated ; he was not disposed thus to peril 
his property, his time, or his character, on such a foolish errand. 
It was one thing for a few obscure but noble-hearted men, like 
him who was sneered at as " the consecrated cobbler" to steal into 
a Danish settlement at Serampore, and begin those translations 
of the Bible which have already shaken the superstition of India 
to its foundations. It was quite another for a man of position to 
devote a fortune to an object, which the House of Commons ac- 
knowledged as a duty, which they had not dared to jDerform. 
Was it likely that the spirit which crushed the humane efforts of 
the friend of Pitt, and tempted Lord Melville into a breach of prom- 
ise, would have yielded to Mr. Haldane, had he chosen to set at 
defiance the India House and Board of Control ? 

With a prudence which marked through life all his boldest 
measures, Mr. Haldane resolved to go to India if he could obtain 
the consent of its Government ; but if that consent were withheld, 
not to go at all. To Mr. Dundas (Lord Melville), then at the 
head of the affairs of India, being President of the Board of Con- 
trol, as well as Chief Secretary of State, he had been known from 
his childhood. He addressed him boldly, and with candor, 
explaining to him all his past or present views, political and reli- 
gious, as he afterwards did to the public in his address on politics. 
Mr. Wilberforce thought that more of reserve, and what might be 
deemed finesse would have been most prudent ; but this was not 
the character of Mr. Haldane's mind, and had Mr. Wilberforce 



102 LETTEES TO ME. DUNDAS. 

been aware of Lord Melville's ample means of knowing every- 
thing concerning the intending missionary, he would have him- 
self admitted that in honesty and frankness consisted the best 
policy. 

In a letter addressed to the Eight Honorable Mr. Secretary 
Dundas, dated Sept. 21, 1796, he solicits an interview, and at 
once tells the wily statesman that he is prepared to give him the 
fullest explanations of his political sentiments. " I mean not," he 
says, " to retract anything I have ever said, or deny what I now 
hold ; but if, in consequence of the following communication, you 
should be desirous, — as, indeed, you will be entitled — to know 
what my views are, I am happy I have it in my power completely 
to satisfy you by answering any questions you may please to pro- 
pose to me on the subject." He adds, " that, even if I be deemed 
mistaken, my stake in the country might be regarded as a guaran- 
tee for the sincerity of my attachment to the present order of 
things." He then tells the Minister that he had never obtruded his 
opinions, whatever they were, on the public, " except once, when 
he considered himself called upon in his place," as one of the 
freeholders of the county, — at that time a very select body, con- 
sisting of the principal landed proprietors, whose numbers, it may 
be worth while to state, did not exceed sixty. " Whatever fear 
may be expressed, with regard to the political sentiments of any 
of us, as making it dangerous to send such persons to India, will 
not apply here. As citizens of this country, we conceive that we 
have a right, and we esteem it a duty, to speak freely our senti- 
ments about Government. As missionaries abroad we have no 
such business. Our mouths, on that subject, will be sealed for- 
ever, when we devote ourselves to preach only the Gospel of 
Jesus Christ and what it contains in a foreign land. On all men 
it enjoins peaceable and quiet lives, which Ave shall uniformly 
inculcate. Indeed, I trust we shall be found useful in no common 
degree (should God grant us success) in promoting the peace and 
happiness of the country and the stability of the Government, 
which we believe to be the best, in India. We are fully con- 
vinced that nothing will tend to bind India so closely to England 
as the introduction of the Gospel among the natives. (While the 
heathen slaves in the West Indies have united in insurrection, the 
converted Africans have continued peaceable and faithful, — such 
is the natural influence of Christianity on its votaries.) And, at 
the same time, we are confident that nothing will provoke God to 



LETTERS TO MR. DUNDAS. 103 

deprive England of the Empire in the East and the benefits result- 
ing from the possession of it, so much as neglecting to send the 
Gospel to them, and especially refusing to allow it to be sent, 
when you are humbly entreated to grant permission. * * * 
Our business and our aim is to propagate the Gospel and save 
the souls of the miserable heathen, and we should think ourselves 
culpable in the highest degree were the rulers, or those who are 
entrusted with the direction of commerce, ever to have any just 
cause of complaint of us. Surely it can never be thought that 
we have any sinister views in this business, or any other than 
what we hold out. To it we dedicate our all ; we leave very 
man}* comforts in this country (for I assure you that it is not dis- 
content that carries us away), and we risk — nay, almost certainly 
view, bad health and many inconveniences and disagreeable cir- 
cumstances that natives of the opposite side of the globe must 
necessarily encounter. Indeed, considering everything, if we do 
not go with pure views and from good motives, in the language 
of the apostle, I have no hesitation to say, - We must be of all 
men most miserable.' " 

In another letter, dated London, September 30th, 1796, it is 
further said, u Many thousands have gone to India to attain a 
decent competency or splendid affluence ; we go with a direct 
view, not to enrich ourselves, but to save the souls of men. And, 
surely, Sir, it is no unreasonable request that at least we may be 
permitted to go out quietly and enjoy the protection of the Gov- 
ernment of India while we demean ourselves well. If we do not 
act there as we propose, the Government can at any time send us 
home ; we shall be sufficiently in their power. I am persuaded, 
however, they would never hear of us, but as inculcating quiet- 
ness and peace." 

In the above letters Mr. Haldane, with characteristic manli- 
ness, avowed his previous political opinions, and, without pro- 
fessing to retract them, only protested against those exagge- 
rations which had falsely represented him as a democratical 
revolutionist, eager to overturn every monarchical Government. 
His own explanations, which have been just quoted, sufficiently 
refute this calumny. On his state of mind in regard to politics, in 
1796, he says himself, in his "Address on Politics," published in 
1800 :— 

" I had not seen at that time, indeed, as I have since, that it 
was my privilege to abstain from all political interference in this 



104 LIFE OF ME. WILBEKFOECE. 

country ; nor was I so deeply and practically convinced of the 
corruption of human nature, as I trust I have since been, so as to 
expect less from it, under any political arrangement. Yet, as a 
missionary, I had determined to renounce the subject, thinking that, 
at least in that situation, I might with a good conscience give it up 
altogether." " This," he emphatically adds, — "this was expressly 
settled and agreed upon as an essential condition, to be observed by 
all of us who joined in the intended Mission." 

In reply to this letter the President of the Board of Control 
very politely invited him to his house, personally to explain his 
views and intentions in private. He had, in fact, several inter- 
views, at one of which Mr. Pitt came into the room before their 
conference was ended. Mr. Pitt no doubt regarded the scheme 
as a well-meant Utopian ebullition of youthful zeal. In the 
"Life of Mr. Wilberforce," his sons, from want of information, 
have given a very erroneous and partial account of Mr. Haldane's 
designs for an Indian Mission and the part their father took in 
the matter. It is, perhaps, not to be wondered at, for they 
have themselves in so many instances misunderstood the 
character and ignored the objects of their illustrious parent, that 
it would have been singular had they been more successful in 
the case of a stranger. But, in the preface to a subsequent pub- 
lication, they have expressed their regret in terms which must 
silence censure. " In particular," they observe, " they feel that, 
for want of full information, they have not done adequate jus- 
tice to the designs of Mr. Haldane for the establishment of a 
Mission in the East Indies." So far as concerns their own 
motives or conduct in the affair, this acknowledgment is ample, 
but it is not an antidote to the misrepresentations for which it as 
an apology. 

The allusions to these designs are brief and unsatisfactory. 
First comes a detached extract from their father's diary : — 
"8th October, 1796. — Yery busy seeing Pitt and Dundas about 
abolition convention plan and East India Missions. Pleased with 
Dundas's candor." Then comes the following sentences : — 

" Having failed three years before in his endeavors to obtain a 
national provison for Christianizing India, he was eager to for- 
ward those individual efforts which, though a poor substitute for 
his proposal, were all that could at present be attempted. Mr. 
Haldane and some other Scotch gentlemen were at this time 
desirous of engaging in such a mission, and he exerted himself to 



DIARY OF MR. WILBERFORCE. 105 

obtain Mr. Dundas's assent to the undertaking." Then follows 
the following extraordinary sentence : — " In this he would probably 
have succeeded if their extreme political opinions had not alarmed the 
Government." If Mr. Wilberforce, as a member of the Church 
of England, failed in his modest efforts three years before to 
establish chaplains for our own countrymen and schoolmasters in 
India, it was not likely that he should now succeed on behalf of 
a member of the Church of Scotland, whose politics had been op- 
posed to the Government. But the narrative of the biographers 
is continued by an extract from his diary of earlier date than the 
first which they quoted. It runs thus : — "I am sorry to find that 
all perfect democrats, believing that a new order of things is 
dawning, &c. Haldane very open. I told him I thought that he, 
by imprudence, had injured the cause with Dundas." This entry, 
dated 4th October, if accurately copied, is glaringly unjust. Even 
if it were conceded as fully as it is disproved, that Mr. Haldane 
was a democrat in the proper sense of the term, Mr. Wilberforce 
had at this time never seen Dr. Innes or Mr. Ewing. Dr. Innes, 
in fact, never came to London about the matter, and Mr. Ewing 
not till November. Now, in regard to both these two gentlemen, 
the tongue of calumny never found any ground to charge them 
with interfering in politics. Indeed, after commenting on his 
letters to Mr. Secretary Dundas, it is remarked by Mr. Haldane, 
that the expressions, " ' as citizens, &c, we deem it our duty, 
&c.,' did not apply to my two associates in Scotland, who, as 
ministers of the Gospel at home, always thought it their duty to 
act in the same manner, in every respect, as they would have 
done if missionaries abroad, and as having nothing to do with 
politics." It may be added, that so much was this the case, that 
Dr. Innes was appointed to the chaplaincy of the Castle instead 
of the senior minister at Stirling, the excellent Mr. Somerville, 
because some exception was taken to the politics of the latter, 
in consequence of an unguarded and partly jocular speech made 
at his own table, which had been reported and misrepresented, 
after the manner of these evil times, by the wife of an officer, who 
was his guest. 

That Mr. Haldane had at first taken a favorable view of the 
French Eevolution has been already seen, but his sentiments 
were never publicly expressed on any occasion, except in his 
place as a freeholder at the Stirling meeting, and he had at all 
times carefully eschewed connection with disaffected or violent 



106 HIS VIEWS OF CIVIL OBEDIENCE. 

Eeformers. His own words are conclusive : — " My principles, at 
all times, were too well known for any one to solicit my attend- 
ance in the self-created political societies. I never had any pri- 
vate intimation of what was going on among them. At that 
time I often publicly declared, had I ever known of anything 
dangerous- to Government, even if I had lived in Turkey, where 
they have one of the worst governments, I should have accounted 
it my duty immediately to reveal it. The only solicitation of 
this kind ever made to me was a request, by letter, to subscribe 
money for those persons (Hardy, Home Tooke, and Thelwall) 
who had been tried in England for sedition, and acquitted. Al- 
though acquitted, I highly disapproved their conduct. I wrote an 
answer to the person soliciting me, to the effect that he had 
wholly misunderstood what my political sentiments had always 
been, otherwise he would not have made such a proposal to me." 

"From these extracts," continues Mr. Haldane, "it 

may be seen what my views at that time were. Indeed, offering 
to go to Bengal, was certainly declaring in language sufficiently 
strong, that it was not politics I had in view, when I wished to 
place myself, my family and property entirely under the power 
of a Government which is so strong as that in India." 

Such was the refutation which Mr. Haldane published of the 
calumnies by which his private opinions were misrepresented 
during the heat of the French Ee volution. Mr. Wilberforce 
probably little imagined that, after more than forty years had 
elapsed, the same calumnies would reappear under cover of his 
time-honored name, by means of fragments of his private diary, 
perhaps, as in some other cases, inaccurately copied, and by loose 
memoranda of conversation, inconsistent both with Mr. Haldane's 
sentiments, acts, and opinions, as well as those of his colleagues. 
" Much," say his biographers, "as he disliked their views, and 
earnestly as he argued against their revolutionary principles in a 
long talk about government, he yet, on every ground, regretted 
the decision of Mr. Dundas." " I could not persuade him, though, 
as I told him, it is on your own grounds the best thing you can 
do. In Scotland such a man is sure to create a ferment. Send 
him, therefore, to the back settlements, to let off his pistol in 
vacuo" 

Well may the Bishop of Oxford, and his brother, the Arch- 
deacon, admit that, " for want of full information, they have not 
done full justice to the designs of Mr. Haldane." The most pre- 



INTERVIEWS WITH MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNMENT. 107 

judiced reader has before him sufficient means to enable him to 
detect the misrepresentations, no doubt unintentional, of which 
they have been guilty. To transpose short isolated fragments 
from a diary without regard to the order of time, to take one 
fragment of the entry on the 8th of October, and then, after some 
interpolated and inaccurate statements of their own, to serve up 
another isolated fragment from an earlier entry on the 4th of Oc- 
tober, and, finally, to wind up these unsatisfactory mutilated ex- 
cerpts with a melange of disparaging conversational recollections, 
reflecting on the chief of a mission which their father, more than 
forty years before, strove to forward, is a method by which any 
design, however noble, might, together with its author, its 
origin, and its objects, be easily overwhelmed with obloquy and 
suspicion. 

To suppose that Mr. Wilberforce labored in common with Mr. 
Charles Grant and Mr. Pitt's brother-in-law, Mr. Eliot, to send 
men of "revolutionary principles" as missionaries to India, is a 
libel on their memory, while it throws an air of ridicule over the 
whole of the imputation. Certain it is, that Mr. Haldane's inter- 
course with Mr. Wilberforce produced on the mind of the former, 
a far different impression from what his biographers would lead 
us to imagine, and we shall now give his own account of his first 
interview with the illustrious abolitionist. 

When Mr. Haldane had secured the co-operation of his friend 
Dr. Bogue, he next proceeded to seek the best means of operating 
on the Directors and the Government. He solicited the influence 
and support of the leaders both of the religious community and 
the political world. Mr. Wilberforce was by no means the first 
nor the principal auxiliary, whose aid he sought. He was him- 
self personally acquainted with several members of the Govern- 
ment, including not only Mr. Secretary Dundas and the Duke of 
Montrose, but the Lord Chancellor Rosslyn, who was a family 
connection, and whose brother-in-law, Lord Alva, had been a 
trustee of the estate of Airthrey, and taken an active part in the 
management of his young relative's concerns. He was received 
with kindness and hospitality by Mr. Pitt's brother-in-law, Mr. 
Eliot, the father of the first Earl of St. Germains, whose early 
death was a loss both to the State and to the Christian commu- 
nity. He experienced much courtesy from the Archbishop of 
Canterbury, and was treated with more than courtesy by Dr. 
Porteus, the Bishop of London. Mr. Erskine, afterwards Lord 



108 INTERVIEWS WITH MR. WILBERFORCE. 

Chancellor, also showed great kindness, although, the value of his 
admiration for the humanity of the enterprise, was somewhat 
lessened by the inappropriate appeal to his Maker's name as the 
guarantee of his support. It was not till four months after his 
arrival in London that he saw Mr. Wilberforce, who was during 
that time at Buxton, nor did a meeting with him take place until 
after Mr. Haldane had written to Mr. Secretary Dundas, and fully 
conversed with that distinguished member of the Government. 
When introduced, along with Dr. Bogue, for the first time, on 
the 4th of October, 1796, to Mr. Wilberforce, the latter apolo- 
gized for not rising, as his feet were wrapped in flannels, and he 
was suffering under a fit of the gout. He strongly and cordially 
approved of the plan, and became so much animated and elated 
as Mr. Haldane unfolded his designs, that, forgetting his gout in 
his admiration of the grandeur of the design, the philanthropist 
kindling into positive enthusiasm, jumped up, and to the enter- 
tainment of his guests, skipped about the room entirely free from 
pain. When he came to talk over the difficulties that impeded 
their plan, and heard of the frank open manner in which Mr. 
Haldane had written and talked to Mr. Dundas, Mr. Wilberforce, 
whose turn of mind was more inclined to diplomacy, expressed 
his doubts whether greater reserve might not have been more 
prudent; and this is probably the meaning of the little disjointed 
extract, "Haldane very open. I told him I thought that he, by 
imprudence, had injured the cause with Dundas." But Mr. Hal- 
dane maintained the superior wisdom of straightforward, out- 
spoken honesty and frankness in such a matter, and urged that 
suspicions are always excited by that unsuccessful finesse which, 
in after-life, often brought on Mr. Wilberforce the taunts of 
worldly politicians, such as Mr. Canning, who compared him to a 
waterman looking one way and rowing the other. They were 
also led to talk on politics. No doubt they differed in opinion 
from Mr. Wilberforce, more especially with regard to the war, 
and as yet he entertained a lingering hope -as to the grand politi- 
cal experiment, of which France was the scene. But nothing 
took place to damp the pleasure with which Mr. Haldane always 
spoke of this interview, and of his subsequent and repeated social 
intercourse with Mr. Wilberforce, and certainly nothing ever oc- 
curred to sanction the cold and disparaging tone of the Biography, 
unless the monstrous supposition be assumed, that Mr. Wilber- 
force was himself insincere in his professions. Mr. Haldane's 



OPPOSITION OF THE BOAED OF COXTEOL. 109 

own remark upon the Biography was this, that far from having 
to complain of any sharpness in debate with Mr. Wilberforce, he 
had only been surprised at the marked deference with which the 
sentiments of one who had neither the same advantages of age 
and Parliamentary position, had been treated both by Mr. Wil- 
berforce, Mr. Eliot, and the rest. There are other extracts from 
the Diary, which cumulatively prove how warm and true an in 
terest Mr. Wilberforce took in the East India Missions: e. g., 
"23d Dec. Breakfasted early with Dundas and Eliot, on Mis- 
sion business ; Dundas complying, when Grant and David Scott 
also — sat long." Again: "26th. Grant, Eliot, and Babington, 
at dinner. Consultation on East India Missions, and discussing 
all evening." Once more: " 18th January, 1797. To town and 
back, to dine at Henry Thornton's, where Simeon and Grant, to 
talk over Mission scheme." 

Is it possible to believe that all the interest in Mr. Haldane's 
Mission scheme expressed by Mr. Wilberforce, was nothing better 
than shallow pretence, and that his communing with Grant, Eliot, 
Thornton, and the rest, was to issue in nothing more than the ex- 
pression of vague opinion, — that, on Mr. Dundas's own princi- 
ples, it was better to "send him to the back settlements, to let off 
his pistol in vacuo?" 1 Mr. Newton writes, "Assure Mr. Haldane 
I love, honor, and pray for them all." Mr. Wilberforce mani- 
fested a kindred feeling then, and several years afterwards. It 
may easily be seen how Mr. Wilberforce said in free conversation, 
something which, torn from its connection, or in itself misunder- 
stood, could thus be easily perverted. But both Mr. Wilberforce 
and Mr. Eliot, who was a member of the Government and Mr. 
Haldane's chief supporter, knew what his biographers overlook, 
that it was not in reality politics that "alarmed the Government." 
Politics did not stand in the way of Mr. Wilberforce's own scheme, 
and yet it too had signally failed. But politics furnished a good 
excuse. It was vain to tell Mr. Dundas that Mr. Haldane was a 
young man, that he had never publicly engaged in politics ; that 
he had now renounced them forever, and was occupied with 
nobler objects. The shrewd, worldly-minded Secretary of State 
had no sympathy with the things of heaven. He had no sympa- 
thy with Missions to the heathen abroad, or Missions to the un- 
converted at home. He was himself a family connection of Mr. 
Haldane's, the cousin of Mr. Haldane's grandfather, and uncle by 
marriage to Lord Duncan. He had known Eobert Haldane from 



110 BISHOP PORTEUS'S APPROVAL. 

his boyhood; and whilst he disliked the scheme in itself, he also 
contended that Eobert Haldane was no weak and simple enthu- 
siast, but a man of shrewdness and good sense, a cool reasoner, 
of acute and vigorous intellect, backed by high courage and un- 
tiring energy. He knew also one of Mr. Haldane's associates, as 
a minister of no ordinar}*' character, to whom he himself had 
been induced, on the solicitation of his niece, when residing at 
Gosport, to offer a living, which, on Dr. Bogue's refusal, he con- 
ferred on the only baronet of the Scottish Church, the late Sir 
Henry Moncrieff, so long the leader of the Evangelical party. 
It is very likely that the wily Secretary, of whose duplicity Mr. 
Wilberforce so often and bitterly complains, did on this occasion 
also penetrate the philanthropist's reserve, and tell him more of 
Mr. Haldane's character than he knew before. It was also prob- 
able, that Mr. Wilberforce, trying to parry the force of the Secre- 
tary's objections, observed, that a man such as Mr. Dundas de- 
scribed Mr. Haldane, would surely be more dangerous in Scotland 
than under a despotic and powerful government like that of India. 
He might have playfully added, If you reckon a man of such 
qualities dangerous in these exciting times, would it not be safer 
on your own principles to send him to the back settlements? 
The esteem and respect which Mr. Wilberforce expressed towards 
him, not only at that period but near the close of life, must be 
regarded as hollow, slippery, and insincere, before we can believe 
that the conversational memoranda of the biographers convey a 
true impression of Mr. Wilberforce's sentiments. How little they 
understood their father's impressions on this subject, may be 
gathered from the following extract from a letter of one of his 
friends, the late Dr. Porteus, Bishop of London. His Lordship, 
in writing from London House to Hannah More, on the 16th of 
January, 1797, says:— 

" What think you of the noble sacrifice Lord Cornwallis has made, of domes- 
tic ease and happiness, and of every blessing the world can give, to the interests 
of his country? This is genuine patriotism indeed! None but he himself 
could quiet the military commotions in India, and he himself made the offer 
of his services. I hardly ever heard of such an instance of self-denial. He is 
past sixty, and has nothing to wish or hope for from Government. Yet, on 
recollection, there is another instance of heroism with respect to the same 
country not less honorable to the actors in it than this. I lately saw three 
Scotchmen (Mr. Haldane, Dr. Bogue, and Mr. Ewing). who are all going to 
India without support, and without protection, to make converts to Christianity. 
When we hear of these, and some other instances of disinterested feeling and 



KENEWED EFFORTS. Ill 

benevolence that I could mention, who will dare say that there is no religion or 
virtue in the world?"* 

It was but a few days before the date of this letter that Mr. 
Haldane received from the East India Directors the following 
official answer, refusing the permission which had been solicited: — 

u Gentlemen, — The Court of Directors of the East India Company have had 
under consideration your letter of the 29th ultimo, requesting permission to 
proceed to India, with your families, and reside in the Company's territories for 
the purpose of instructing the natives of India in the knowledge of the Chris- 
tian religion ; and I have received the Court's commands to acquaint you, that 
however convinced they may be of the sincerity of your motives, and the zeal 
with which you appear to be actuated, in sacrificing your personal convenience 
to the religious and moral purposes described in your letter, yet the Court 
have weighty and substantial reasons which induce them to decline a compli- 
ance with your request. — I am, Gentlemen, 

" Your most obedient humble Servant, 

" William Ramsay, Sec. 

" To Robert Haldane, Esq. 

" The Rev. David Bogue. 

" The Rev. Greville Etcing." 

But although thus baffled in their first attempt, they did not 
regard the matter as settled. The following letter, from Dr. 
Bogue to a clergyman at Bristol, exhibits his views of the Mis- 
sion, and proves that it was neither lightly taken up nor lightly 
abandoned : — 

"The plan of sending out young men unaccustomed to the task of religious 
instruction never appeared to me calculated to produce the end we had in view. 
I always thought it the duty of more experienced men to lead the way, and 
offer themselves for the service of the heathen ; but, like you, I thought myself 
too old for the office of a missionary. But about eight months ago, I received 
an invitation from my friend, Mr. Haldane, to accompany him to Bengal, to 
assist him, along with two others, in carrying into execution a plan for the con- 
version of the heathen, which he had formed about a year before. After 
weighing the subject maturely, I accepted his call, and declared my readiness to 
go : the two others we had in view, Mr. Ewing and Mr. Innes (whom some of 
your Bristol people know), have likewise engaged to go with us. What you 
mention as to age, and the uncertainty of the climate agreeing with me, is just. 
But these things must be left in the hands of the great Head of the Church. 
I am a necessary link of the chain. As we are to live in the close union of 
brothers, it would not do unless we knew each other, and from what we know, 
could place some dependence on suitableness of disposition, &c. Though a 
more suitable and a younger person could be found, he wants the qualification 
of old friendship and acquaintance which I possess." 

* Memoirs of Mrs. Hannah More, by Mr. Koberts, 3d vol. 



112 SECOXD REFUSAL. 

A few months afterwards, a long and very powerful memorial 
was drawn up and presented to the Board, urging them, by every 
motive of policy and of duty, to review their decision. It is 
signed, — Eobert Haldane, David Bogue, William Lines, and 
Greville Ewing. It appeals to all the principles most likely to 
operate on the human mind, — to their justice, their interests, 
their humanity, their love of literature, their philanthropy, their 
religion, their hopes and fears for this world and the next. The 
advantages to be gained from a permission, the shame consequent 
on a refusal, are all powerfully set forth. 

But the warning as well as persuasive voice of this memorial 
was as ineffectual as the first. The "extent of their petition," with 
their ' ' plan and their design," are set forth in the following words : — 

" If we obtain leave from your Honorable Court, we propose to go out to 
Bengal, with our families ; to take a few persons with us as catechists, and to 
settle in a part of the country which may be found most convenient, both on 
account of a healthful situation, and for furnishing opportunities of communi- 
cating instruction to the natives. When we have made ourselves masters of 
the language, we design to employ our time in conveying the knowledge of 
Christianity to the Hindoos and Mahommedans, by translating the Sacred 
Scriptures for their use, by conversation, and by erecting schools to be kept by 
the catechists for teaching the children the first principles of religion. Such is 
our object, and we have sufficient funds for its support. 

" The favor we ask of you, Gentlemen, is leave to go out to Bengal, and pro- 
tection there, while we demean ourselves as peaceable subjects of the Govern- 
ment, and good members of the community." 

But this leave was denied. " It was," says Dr. Bennett, in his 
Life of Dr. Bogue, " it was said at the time that one of the Direc- 
tors declared he would rather see a band of devils in India than a 
band of missionaries." Whatever may be alleged of the impiety 
of this speech, there is no reason to doubt its sincerity. " The 
things which the Gentiles sacrifice," said the inspired apostle, 
a they sacrifice to devils and not to God;" and the interest of 
Paganism was warmly espoused by men who would have deemed 
themselves insulted if they had been denied the Christian name. 
The controversy which soon after arose on this subject, proved 
that nothing truly Christian could obtain the sanction of the ma- 
jority of those who then ruled the affairs of India. In pamphlets 
and periodicals, the most embittered hostility to the propagation 
of Christianity was openly avowed by some of the civil and mili- 
tary agents of the British East India Conipam\ But it was all 
perfectly natural, for not only were many of those who fought so 



OBSTACLES TO MISSIONS AFTEPwWARDS SURMOUNTED. 113 

zealously for Juggernaut and the Suttees against Christ and his 
Cross a disgrace to the Christian name which they affected to 
bear, but a leader in their ranks actually wiped off the very 
name as a foul blot from his dishonored brow, and at an im- 
mense price purchased the privilege of becoming a worshipper 
of Bramah. 

Happily, we have lived to see the day when these restrictions 
on the propagation of the Gospel have been swept away ; and 
great as is the glory which belongs to the name of Wilberforce 
for his labors in the cause of Africa, it may be said to have been 
eclipsed by the results of his zeal for Asia. The battle fought at 
the renewal of the charter in 1812 was fiercely contested, and 
even Warren Hastings came forward, in his old age, to lend the 
lustre of his genius to the enemies of Christianity. In spite of his 
transcendent talents, his moral character was low, and his career 
of selfish ambition unhappy. As contrasted with that of Wilber- 
force, we are reminded of the declaration of the Almighty, "Him 
that honoreth me I will honor, but he that despiseth me shall be 
lightly esteemed." The progress of Christianity in India since 
1812 has been more than commensurate to all the cost bestowed 
upon it, and has done much to wipe away the reproach of Edmund 
Burke, when he contrasted the conquests of England with those 
of Tamerlane. Amongst those who have since governed India, 
the name of Lord William Bentinck ought never to be forgotten. 
He assumed his office under great disadvantages, and more espe- 
cially as his appointment was the act of Mr. Canning, in opposi- 
tion to the wish of the Court of Directors. He was compelled to 
carry out some of the most unpopular measures, which had been 
evaded by his predecessors, such as the reduction of the army 
allowances, and he was left to bear the odium it entailed, as if the 
act had been his own. But in the face of every difficulty, the 
influence of Christian principle was always paramount in the 
Government House at Calcutta whilst occupied by Lord and Lady 
William Bentinck. With one stroke of his pen, he abolished the 
inhuman practice of Suttees, and left an example to future rulers, 
demonstrating the folly of those who imagine that there can be 
danger in forbidding the violation of the plainest statutes of the 
Almighty. The success which attended this measure will for- 
ever rebuke the enmity of his detractors, and immortalize the 
name of Lord William Bentinck. He went out to India, as he 
told Sir Eowell Buxton before he sailed, resolved to abolish, 



i 



11-i MR. CAMPBELLS LETTER TO COUNTESS OF LEVEE". 

Suttees ; and without swerving from his purpose, it was carried 
into effect, in spite of all the sinister predictions of the enemies 
of the Gospel. 

Before taking leave of the India Mission, it would be improper 
to omit the fact, that Mr. John Campbell was one of those whom 
Mr. Haldane desired to take with him as a catechist. In writing 
to the Countess of Leven, Mr. Campbell says: "I have never 
hinted, but to Mr. Newton, what I now mention. Mr. Haldane 
and his associates in the intended Mission to Bengal have applied 
to me to accompany them on their humane enterprise. . . . 
After thinking upon it for a few nights and days, I told Mr. H. 
that my mind was reconciled to go, but that I had voluntarily 
promised Mr. Newton not to engage in any Mission without 
apprizing him. . . . Should I go, I shall use all means to 
prevent my home plans from falling to the ground. I am not in 
the least dissatisfied with my present station, trade, or success. 
None have less cause to murmur." The Countess, as well as Mr. 
Newton, opposed the design, as taking away a most valuable 
laborer out of a field of usefulness at home for an uncertain bene- 
fit abroad. Mr. Newton wrote : "I have no doubt but Satan 
would be glad to see you shipped off to India, or anywhere, so 
that he might be rid of you, for you stand in his way where you 
are." This answer neither satisfied Mr. Campbell nor Mr. Hal- 
dane ; and at the desire of the latter, the question was referred to 
the deliberate and devotional judgment of the Eclectic Society, 
or, as Mr. Campbell was wont to call it, the " Newtonian tea 
party," which then met around Mr. Newton's chair, and was after- 
wards connected with St. John's Chapel, Bedford-row. The appeal 
brought down an answer, too long for insertion here, which Mr. 
Philip has, however, preserved in his Life of Mr. Campbell, be- 
cause he thinks "it throws light upon the spirit of that holy but 
not heroic circle." 

It seems that there were fifteen present at the Eclectic meeting, 
that all were unanimous in admiring the generosity and disinter- 
estedness of Mr. Haldane's offer and design, but that none of them 
approved of the plan for carrying it into effect. They considered 
that the difficulties in the way should be regarded as a providen- 
tial intimation against it, and that an attempt to overcome those 
difficulties by endeavoring to make the mission " a common cause 
with all serious people, was more likely to excite public disturb- 
ance than to prevail on the Company." 



MR. HALDANE'S LETTER TO MR. CAMPBELL. 115 

Mr. Newton and his friends seemed also to think that in 
determining on a mission to the heathen, it was not proper to 
fix on Bengal, or to name a particular city, which he then sup- 
posed to be Patna. The answer is obvious. The neglected state 
of the millions of India was the object which had stirred up Mr. 
Haldane, and he did not insist on going to a particular city, 
excepting so far as it was useful to name some spot for the satis- 
faction of the Company, and finally, whilst he was prepared to 
succumb to difficulties, if found to be insuperable, he did not 
think it right, slothfully to take it for granted without a struggle 
that the lion in the way could not be chained, or the obstacles 
surmounted. Had Mr. Wilberforce and his friends yielded to 
the argument derived from difficulties at the outset of the Church 
Missionary Society, it would have been strangled in its cradle, 
and never accomplished the great work by which it has been dis- 
tinguished. 

With such arguments Mr. Haldane was not satisfied. His 
powers of influencing the wills of others was great, and the fol- 
lowing appeal which he addressed to Mr. Campbell, for a time 
made the good man's mind " like a windmill" : — 

" If you think, from what your friends have said, that you 
ought to stay at home, I certainly have no title to desire you to 
go to India. At the same time, I must say, that this is the most 
important step you ever took in your life. The argument of your 
friends cuts deep the other way. They advise you not to go, be- 
cause, they say, there are so many able friends at the head of the 
mission. Surely they have not considered that you, and another 
Christian under your direction, would have the entire oversight 
of an Indian city ! The men at the head of the mission can assist 
but little. Almost the whole will depend upon the person they 
send. We think you eminently qualified for such a station. 
The Lord has much people in Edinburgh to carry on all your 
plans. An imprudent missionary in Bengal might injure the 
cause of Christianity for an age. An individual leaving Edin- 
burgh could not affect it materially. I say all this, because you 
told me that you were easily impressed with a thing at first. Be 
not therefore led away by the advice of your friends at once ; 
weigh the matter well yourself, with prayer to Grod, and a single 
eye to His glory. Call no man on earth father, but decide for 
yourself this most eventful question that ever did, or probably 
ever will come before you." 



116 LETTER OF DR. BOGUE. 

No wonder that Mr. Campbell was shaken by this powerful and 
disinterested appeal ; but the advice of Mr. Newton and Lady 
Leven prevailed, and the simplicity of his motives were fully ap- 
preciated by Mr. Haldane, who soon afterwards found other work 
for Mr. Campbell to superintend at home. His biographer adds 
— "But how he managed to do it all, I cannot explain; for at 
this time he was extending his business, and multiplying his cor- 
respondents at home and abroad, and originating Sabbath-schools, 
by letters and tracts all over Scotland. Soldiers and sailors wrote 
to him for advice ; the needy and greedy for money ; the unclaim- 
ed outcasts for prayers and counsel ; dark villages for itinerants, 
and chapel-builders for help ; besides the hundreds, who ordered 
their Missionary Magazines, books, and Scott's Commentary, and 
paid their accounts through him. Mr. Newton knew all this, and 
would not hear of any other mission for him. Mr. Haldane saw 
much of this, and as naturally thought him just the man for a city 
in Bengal." 

The honored circle of good men who crowded round the vene- 
rable John Newton had been so long obliged to succumb before 
adverse influence, that in such matters they were timid rather than 
heroic. They were conscious that they were but a minority, and 
they shrunk from difficulties with which a bolder spirit fearlessly 
grappled. Still, there is no doubt that their conclusions were 
just, although their reasons were such as would have crushed 
any attempt to do good when obstacles interposed. It seems that 
Mr. Ewing also retired from the undertaking, a considerable time 
before Mr. Haldane and Dr. Bogue abandoned the noble struggle. 
Towards the end of 1798, Dr. Bogue having been invited by the 
late Mr. Hardcastle to undertake the charge of the students of the 
London Missionary Society, thus writes — "Mr. Haldane is now 
with me, and we are preparing for a repeated application to the 
East India Company, relative to the mission to Bengal. While 
that remains undecided, I cannot with propriety think of another." 
In a previous communication, he says, — 

Gosport, April 27, 1798. 
"Your kind letter, relative to our India business, I received, and immediately 
communicated the contents to Mr. Haldane, recommending him to postpone 
application to the Company till they had leisure to attend to it, and till Mr. 
Grant had delivered in his remarks on the business. The proposal met with 
his approbation, and he expressed himself willing to wait for a considerable 
time. I have some hopes that he will be at the meeting of the Missionary So- 
ciety, when we shall have an opportunity of consulting personally on the busi- 



THE DESIGN ABANDONED IN 1798. 117 

ness. Perhaps the state of public affairs may prevent the rulers both of England 
and India from attending to such things at present. Events succeed each othei 
so rapidly, as to leave us at utter uncertainty even to conjecture what God i& 
going to do." 

In Mr. Haldane's address already cited, we have the final ac- 
count of the termination of the whole scheme. 

u For some time after this (1797), I did not lay aside my en- 
deavors to go out to Bengal, and in the mean while was busied 
in selling my estate, that there might be no delay on my part, if 
obstructions from without should be removed. I accordingly at 
length found a purchaser, and with great satisfaction left a place, 
in the beautifying and improving of which my mind had once 
been much engrossed. In that transaction I sincerely rejoice to 
this hour, although disappointed in getting out to India. I gave 
up a place and a situation, which continually presented objects 
calculated to excite and gratify ' the lust of the eye and the pride 
of life.' Instead of being engaged in such poor matters, my time 
is now more at my command ; and I find my power of applying 
property usefully, very considerably increased. I can truly say, 
I experience the accomplishment of the gracious promise, that 
leaving house and lands (although in a very restricted sense), as 
I trust, for the Gospel's sake alone, and what I esteemed my duty, 
I have received manifold, though, as it is added, ' with persecu- 
tions.' .... For my own part, I am satisfied in having made 
the attempt, although it appeared by the event clearly the will of 
God that we should not go out. I have not a doubt that this was 
ordered for good, and our being prevented, whether from un- 
worthiness, or from whatever other cause which we know not 
now, we shall know hereafter. I could not, however, help par- 
ticularly observing the massacre of the Europeans that lately took 
place at Benares, where it is probable we should have been, had 
we obtained our desire. With the apostle, then, I would here 
thankfully exclaim, ' the depth of the riches, both of the wis- 
dom and knowledge of God ! how unsearchable are his judgments, 
and his ways past finding out.' " 

Such was the termination of a scheme, — of which it is impos- 
sible not to commend and admire the motives, and of which even 
the failure was calculated to excite additional interest on behalf of 
millions of our fellow-subjects, thus excluded from the sound of 
the Gospel by the self-interested policy of their commercial rulers. 
From this period Dr. Bogue co-operated with Mr. Haldane in 



118 DR. bogue's testimony. 

several important plans ; and although in some things they did 
not always see " eye to eye," yet their mutual friendship and 
esteem remained unshaken and unabated to the last. In the year 
1821, during his last visit to England, Mr. Haldane, after his re- 
turn from the Continent, visited Dr. Bogue at Gosport, on pur- 
pose to converse with him on the great subjects connected with 
the kingdom of Christ, concerning which they were both so deep- 
ly interested; and one of the very last letters, written by the 
venerable Pastor of Gosport, a few days before his death in Oct., 
1825, was addressed to his old friend, with whom, for the sake of 
Christ, he had once designed to spend his life in India. It was a 
letter introducing one of his pupils, to whom, in the note with 
which the introduction is accompanied, he says, "Kobert Hal- 
dane's country residence is between Glasgow and Edinburgh. 
There is scarcely such a man in the world. You will find his 
counsels very useful." 



CHAPTER VI. 

[1795—1797.] 

When Captain James Haldane quitted the Melville Castle, he 
would have been greatly startled had he been then informed that 
he was to become a preacher of the Gospel. So far as he had any 
fixed plan, it was to become a landed proprietor, retire to the 
country, and lead a quiet, useful, unambitious life. At one time 
he was in treaty for the estate of Garnkirk, near Glasgow, which 
was some years later sold for several times the amount for which 
it could then have been purchased, had his wife approved of the 
locality. Subsequently he had, with Jier consent, almost conclu- 
ded a nearly equally advantageous treaty for the estate of Ches- 
terhall, about ten miles to the south of Edinburgh, a place which 
has been since purchased by the Earl of Stair, who has pulled 
down the house and included a large portion of the lands within 
the splendid domains of Oxenford Castle. But circumstances in- 
terfered, and he was prevented from completing an arrangement 
which might have hampered his future plans of usefulness. A 
life of leisure was never to be his, and when he sketched out the 
prospect of settling as a country gentleman, he neither knew him- 
self nor the mission he was destined to fulfil. But whilst residing 
in Edinburgh, and associating with such men as Dr. Walter Bu- 
chanan, Mr. Black, Dr. Erskine, and others, he soon became in- 
terested in their Christian objects, and still more in those of cer- 
tain active and devoted laymen whom he met in their society. 

Amongst the latter, the foremost place is due to Mr. John 
Aikman and Mr. John Campbell, two men who were afterwards 
his own coadjutors in the Gospel, and whose holy zeal and inde- 
fatigable labors were continued, although in different spheres, to 
the termination of their lives. It was with Mr. Campbell that the 
two brothers first became acquainted ; and in a letter from Banff, 



120 MR. JOHN CAMPBELL. 

dated 28th July, 1797, Mr. J. A. Haldane bears this honorable 
testimony to the spiritual benefit received from Mr. John Camp- 
bell. " There is no one," he says, " more interested in our success 
than yourself, and none, I am persuaded, who remembers its 
more at a throne of grace. Therefore, be assured that when we 
are long in writing to you, it is not owing to forgetfulness. For 
I believe you are in each of our hearts. You ought to be on 
mine, for there is no one whose preaching, conversation, or writ- 
ings have been so useful to me as the hours we have spent 
together." The man to whom this testimony is borne is entitled 
to peculiar notice in this Memoir, and his name has been already 
introduced in connection with the Indian Mission. Mr. Campbell 
had enjoyed the benefit of a good education at the High School, 
but he was designed for trade, and had a large ironmonger's shop 
then overlooking the Grassmarket of Edinburgh, a spot which 
reminds the classical traveller of the ancient Eoman Forum. He 
was a little man, active, with an intelligent benevolent counte- 
nance, and a quick dark eye, of a very practical turn, and a mind 
far superior to his position. Without pretending to commanding 
talent or much learning, he had a large stock of strong common 
sense and knowledge of human nature, combined with impulsive 
zeal, and a heart overflowing with love to God and man. Earnest, 
single-hearted, prayerful, and devoted to his Heavenly Master, this 
indefatigable and laborious man was enabled to achieve more for 
the kingdom of Christ, and the welfare of his fellow-creatures, 
than many other Christians of far loftier station and more com- 
manding abilities. To him belonged pre-eminently the character 
of a man of God, a simple yet sublime title, and one which still 
lingers in the East, even in countries where the knowledge of 
Jehovah has long since disappeared. He was in Edinburgh the 
living model of a City Missionary, a district visitor, a Scripture 
reader, a tract distributor, a Sabbath-school teacher, and a Sab- 
bath-school founder, long before Christians had learned to unite 
themselves together in societies to promote these objects. His 
warehouse was then the only repository in Edinburgh for re- 
ligious tracts and periodicals, and became a sort of house of call, 
or point of reunion, for all who took an interest in the kingdom 
of Christ. 

Mr. Campbell was afterwards to become a preacher, an author, 
a minister, and a missionary traveller, in the unexplored interior 
of Africa. But at the time of which we speak, he was occupy- 



MR. CAMPBELL'S CORRESPONDENTS. 121 

ing a post far more laborious, and, perhaps, as useful. His 
biographer, the Be v. Mr. Philip, has given a striking and unex- 
aggerated account of his labors at Edinburgh, when he says, that 
"besides the care of his business, and of the sick and orphans, he 
carried on a correspondence, enough of itself to waste the health 
of any man who had only the night at his command for writing. 
The number of his letters was incredible ; and they are all upon 
exciting subjects, and many of them to persons whose rank or 
talents called for deliberation." Once in every week he wrote to 
the venerable Countess of Leven and Melville, the friend of Whit- 
field, and the associate of the celebrated Countess of Huntingdon. 
Mr. Campbell was her almoner, and whilst her purse enabled him 
to cheer many a lonely pilgrim in Edinburgh, " his reports of 
dying Christians and of reclaimed wanderers, and of Evangelical 
movements cheered her Ladyship in Melville House." With the 
venerable John Newton, the friend of Cowper, he maintained a 
close personal intimacy for nearly twenty years, whilst with 
Thomas Scott, the commentator, Charles, of Bala, Andrew Fuller, 
and Abraham Booth, he regularly corresponded, as well as with 
many eminent laymen in London, such as Macaulay, Hardcastle, 
Grant, and Wilberforce. His friendship and information were 
rendered valuable by his knowledge of all the public movements 
of truth and philanthropy in Scotland. " He had thus," continues 
his biographer, "to watch the public mind in Edinburgh, and to 
consult with all who led it, and to mingle in all the deliberations 
and efforts by which new objects were brought before it. And 
then he transcribed, for private circulation, copies of whatever 
English or foreign letters he received, which were likely to multi- 
ply or confirm the friends of Evangelization, besides answering 
many a long letter from the tried or tempted on Christian experi- 
ence. After this description, it may be understood how it was 
that the good Countess of Leven, in writing to Mr. Grant, the 
father of Lord Glenelg, playfully styled him "one of the wonders 
of the world." 

At the period at which this narrative has arrived Mr. Campbell 
was rejoicing in the light of the Gospel with an assured confi- 
dence, which till then he had not before experienced, but which 
never left him to the end of his protracted and chequered course. 
For many years he had known and believed the truth, but his 
views of Christ had been rather sought in the reflection of the 
inward work of the Holy Spirit in his heart than in the finished 



122 MR. JOHN CAMPBELL. 

righteousness of Christ, and lie had neither peace nor joy in be- 
lieving. It was a subjective rather than an objective faith. 
Doubts, fears, and actual backslidings, had often shaken his hope, 
and driven him almost to despair, even at the time he was esteemed 
by other Christians and regarded as a pattern. At last, to use his 
own earnest words in a letter published by Mr. Newton, " The 
cloud which covered the mercy-seat fled away, — Jesus appeared 
as he is ! My eyes were not turned inward, but outward. The 
Gospel was the glass in which I beheld him. In the time of my 
affliction, the doctrine of election appeared irritating and confound- 
ing ; now it appears truly glorious and truly humbling. . . . 
I now stand upon a shore of comparative rest. Believing, I 
rejoice. When in search of comfort, 1 resort to the testimony of 
God ; this is the field which contains the pearl of great price. 
Frames and feelings are, like other created comforts, passing 
away. What unutterable source of consolation is it that the 
foundation of our faith and hope is ever immutably the same ! — 
the sacrifice of Jesus as acceptable and pleasing to the Father as 
ever it was ! To this sacrifice I desire ever to direct my eye, 
especially at the first approach of any gloom or mental change." 

One more extract from this striking document which so de- 
lighted Mr. Newton must suffice. 

"After my deliverance," continues Mr. Campbell, "my ideas 
of many things were much altered, especially about faith. I per- 
ceive that this principle in the mind arises from no exertion in the 
man, but the constraint of evidence from without. The Spirit 
takes the things of Christ, and discovers their reality and glory 
in such a manner to the mind of man, that it is not in his power 
to refuse his belief. It is no mighty matter, nor is it any way 
meritorious, to believe the sun is shining when our eyes are daz- 
zled with its beams. The internal evidences of the truth of revela- 
tion had ten thousand times more effect upon my mind than all 
its external evidence. There is a divineness, a glory, and excel- 
lence in the Scriptures, perceived by enlightened minds, which 
they cannot so describe as to make it intelligible to an unregene- 
rate person. Formerly the major part of my thoughts centred 
either upon the darkness I felt or the light I enjoyed. Now they 
are mainly directed to Jesus, what he hath done, suffered, and 
promised." 

It was when Mr. Campbell was thus exulting in the first joys 
of his spiritual emancipation that Mr. J. A. Haldane became ac- 



INTRODUCTION TO MR. AIKMAN. 123 

quainted with him, and after reading these extracts, it is more 
easy to understand how his experience was then made useful to 
the young disciple by exhibiting those refreshing views of the 
Gospel as glad tidings, proclaiming freedom from the condemna- 
tion of the law, and showing that our hopes are to be fixed only 
on the work which Christ has finished, although our conduct is to 
be regulated by what God has commanded. Mr. Campbell used 
in after-life to speak with pleasure of those communings with his 
new friend, and then modestly to add, "But very soon he got the 
start of me, and left me far behind." 

It was in Mr. Campbell's shop that Mr. James Haldane was also 
first introduced to Mr. John Aikman. Mr. Campbell, with that 
good-humored cordiality and attractive drollery which formed one 
of his characteristics, and to which he was indebted for much of 
his popularity, addressed Mr. J. Haldane somewhat to this effect : 
f 1 You, Sir, are from the East Indies, and my friend here is from 
the West. You belong to the same prayer-meeting, and should 
be united." The introduction was mutually agreeable, and the 
commencement of a Christian friendship which no circumstances 
ever interrupted. 

Mr. Aikman was a man of good talents and education, who was 
fond of reading, and so well acquainted with some of the modern 
languages, that in after-years he was able to preach in French to 
the prisoners of war at Pennycuick, near Edinburgh. He had 
been brought to the knowledge of Christ by reading Newton's 
" Cardiphonia ; or, Utterance of the Heart," which he purchased 
at a book-stall in London, under the supposition that it was a 
novel, and would do for a circulating library he was then estab- 
lishing in Jamaica. He relinquished a lucrative business in that 
island from reluctance to be associated with traffic on the Lord's 
day ; and having arranged with his partner, returned to Scotland 
with a moderate competence. At the time of which we are now 
speaking he was studying at the College, and attending the 
Divinity lectures, with a view to the ministry. He had neither 
the energy nor the physical strength of his new friend, and his 
health had suffered from residence in a tropical climate. But 
added to very agreeable social qualities, and general information, 
there was in him that warmth of piety, that constraining love to 
Christ, that earnest zeal to advance his kingdom, which prompted 
him to efforts even beyond his power, and soon won the heart of 
James Haldane. 



124 LOW STATE OF EELIGION IN SCOTLAND. 

This is not the place to descant on the low and melancholy 
state of religion at that time in Scotland. Bnt some reference to 
it is necessary to this narrative. It has been called " the midnight 
of the Chnrch of Scotland ;" and although here and there might 
be seen a burning and a shining light, as in Stirling and its 
neighborhood, yet it served only to make the gloom more visible. 
It was a darkness that might be felt, and the infidelity of David 
Hume, Adam Smith, and their coadjutors, first infecting the 
Universities and seats of learning, had gradually insinuated its 
poison into the ministrations of the Church. Some had altogether 
thrown off the mask, like the eminent and scientific Professor 
Playfair, under whose ministry James Haldane himself had sat 
as a boy when living at Lundie House. He would sometimes 
smile at the recollection of the bow from the pulpit, which, accord- 
ing to the ancient usage of feudal times, was then directed at the 
close of the service to the pew of the chief heritor in the parish 
church, even when the youthful occupier happened to sit alone. 
Others, with more of inconsistency, exhibited the same infidelity 
as the amiable Professor Playfair, whilst they still ate the bread 
of orthodoxy, and in practice trampled on the doctrines and pre- 
cepts of the Church. Dr. M 'Grill, of Ayr, had published a Socinian 
work, of which the Rev. John Newton declared that it alarmed 
him " more than all the volumes of Priestley ;" yet even he was 
absolved by the Assembly. Dr. Robertson, the friend of Hume 
and Adam Smith, was, not without reason, more than half sus- 
pected, whilst Dr. Blair's moral sermons had shown how, in 
Scotland as well as in England, the professed ministers of Christ 
could become, in the words of Bishop Horsley, little better than 
" the apes of Epictetus." 

The following extract may serve to show a state of things 
which modern historians sometimes try to ignore, although it 
proves the need that existed for a voice to rouse the people from 
the sleep of death. It is taken from the " Autobiography of the 
Rev. Dr. Hamilton, of Strathblane," the father of the well-known 
and esteemed minister of the Scotch Church, Regent-square, 
London : — 

" Principal Hill and Dr. Finlayson," says Dr. Hamilton, " ruled the Assem- 
blies, and the parishes were occupied by the pupils of such divines as Simpson, 
Leechman, Baillie, and Wight. Many of them were genuine Socinians, Many 
of them were ignorant of theology as a system, and utterly careless about the 
merits of any creed or confession. They seemed miserable in the discharge of 



DR. HAMILTON'S TESTIMONY. 125 

every ministerial duty. They eagerly seized on the services of any stray 
preacher who came within their reach. When they preached, their sermons 
generally turned on honesty, good neighborhood, and kindness. To deliver a 
Gospel sermon, or preach to the hearts and consciences of dying sinners, was 
as completely beyond their power as to speak in the language of angels. And 
while their discourses were destitute of everything which a dying sinner needs, 
they were at the same time the most feeble, empty, and insipid things that ever 
disgraced the venerated name of sermons. The coldness and indifference of 
the minister, while they proclaimed his own aversion to his employment, were 
seldom lost on the people. The congregations rarely amounted to a tenth of 
the parishioners, and the one half of this small number were generally, during 
the half-hour's soporific harangue, fast asleep. They were free from hypocrisy. 
They had no more religion in private than in public. They were loud and 
obstreperous in declaiming against enthusiasm and fanaticism, faith and reli- 
gious zeal. Their family worship was often confined to the Sabbath, or, if 
observed through the week, rarely extended to more than a prayer of five or 
three minutes. But though frightfully impatient of everything which bore the 
semblance of seriousness and sober reflection, the elevation of brow, the ex- 
pansion of feature, the glistening of the eye, the fluency and warmth of speech 
at convivial parties, showed that their heart and soul were there, and that the 
pleasures of the table and the hilarity of the light-hearted and gay, constituted 
their paradise and furnished them with the perfection of their joy." 

This is the testimony, not of a foe to the Church of Scotland, 
but of a friend ; of a faithful minister, who lived and died in its 
communion. If we were disposed to add further corroborative 
evidence to the truth of his melancholy picture, it would be found 
in the graphic sketch which has been drawn of the dominant 
party by the brilliant pen of Mr. Hugh Millar, in his masterly 
review of the almost Infidel debate in the General Assembly, on 
the subject of Christian Missions. It furnishes, as he remarks, a 
better illustration of the true character of Moderatism than the 
reader will be able to find for himself almost anywhere else. Dr. 
John Erskine, of Edinburgh, was for many years the revered 
leader of the evangelical party of the Church of Scotland, and is 
thus described by Bishop Hurd, — •" Erskine, next to Warburton, 
is the deepest divine I have yet known." But Mr. Millar's noble 
portrait of this venerable man might have acquired some fresh 
touches of interest had the report from which he draws his mate- 
rials enabled him to state the precise point in the speech of the 
minister of Gladsmuir which called forth the crushing reply of Dr. 
Erskine. 

The overture under debate and the Eesolution so vehemently 
opposed amounted to this, " That it is the duty of Christians to 
carry the Gospel to the heathen world." After describing the 



126 DR. ERSKINE. 

character of Dr. Erskine and some others, Mr. Millar thus 
proceeds: — "'The bruit goeth shrewdly/ said De Bracy to his 
companion in arms, the Templar, ' that the most holy order of 
the Temple of Zion nurseth not a few Infidels within its bosom.' 
Hume, intending on one occasion to be very complimentary, said 
nearly the same thing of the Church of Scotland. Was the com- 
pliment deserved ? And if so, what peculiar aspect did the Infi- 
delity of the Scottish clergy assume ? Was it gentlemanly and 
philosophic, like that of Hume himself? or highly seasoned with 
wit, like that of Voltaire ? or dignified and pompous, like that of 
Gibbon ? or romantic and chivalrous, like that of Lord Herbert, 
of Cherbury ? or stupid in ruffianism, like that of Paine ? or 
redolent of nonsense, like that of Robert Owen ? or was it not 
rather of mark enough to have a character of its own, — an Infi- 
delity that purported to be Antichristian on Bible authority, — 
that, at least, when it robed itself in the habiliments of unbelief, 
took the liberty of lacing them with Scripture edgings ? May I 
crave the attention of the reader, instead of directly answering 
any of these queries, to the facts and reasonings employed by the 
Rev. Mr. Hamilton, of Gladsmuir." 

Copious extracts are then given from the speech of Mr. Hamil- 
ton, who was rewarded for his services with the office of Moderator ; 
He argued, with a glozihg affectation of reverence for the Word 
of God, "that the gracious declarations of Scripture ought to lib- 
erate from groundless anxiety the minds of those who stated in 
such moving language the condition of the heathen." He went 
further, and ventured even to borrow the Infidelity of Rousseau, 
and more than insinuated that, in communicating Christianity to 
the Indian or Otaheitan, we should only introduce the vices of 
European nations, whilst the influence of our religion would not 
refine his morals or ensure his happiness. Mr. Hamilton con- 
cluded, " Upon the whole, whilst we pray for the propagation of 
the Gospel and patiently await its period, let us unite in resolutely 
rejecting these overtures." But there was one point which this 
" Moderate" had especially labored, and it was to show the 
absurdity of making revelation precede civilization. " Men," he 
said, P must be polished and refined in their manners, before they 
can be properly enlightened in religious truths." And, as he 
drew to the close of his flowery harangue, he demanded, with an 
air of triumph, where did we find the great Apostle of the Gen- 
tiles ? Was it amongst barbarians, such as those to whom it was 



DEBATE ON MISSIONS. 127 

now proposed to carry the Gospel ? or was it not rather in the 
polished cities of Corinth, of Athens, and of Rome ? It was when 
this orator sat down that Dr. Erskine rose, with a dignity worthy 
of the descendant of Lord Cardross, — a dignity to which his char- 
acter, his learning, and his age, added weight, — and, in a calm, 
firm, energetic tone, uttered those crushing words which thrilled 
through the Assembly, — "Moderator, rax me that Bible" 
(Reach me that Bible). There was something before which even 
his opponents quailed in the appeal thus made to the silent wit- 
ness for God's truth, which still lay upon the table. The Bible 
was handed to him, and the Assembly seemed awed and electrified, 
and a death-like silence reigned whilst the aged man of God turned 
up the sacred volume and read, in a distinct and audible voice, 
the account of Paul's reception at Melita, when "the barbarous 
people showed us no little kindness." " Do you think," said Dr. 
Erskine, "that when Paul wrought his miracles at Malta, and 
was supposed to he a god, he did not also preach Christ to the 
barbarians, and explain who it was through whose Name such 
power was given unto men ?" The rest of his speech was equally 
effective ; but if the Moderates felt abashed by the discomfiture 
of their champion, they consoled themselves with the strength of 
the majority, by which they rejected the appeal on behalf of Mis- 
sions to the Heathen. 

It may be imagined with what feelings this debate was listened 
to, by him from whose lips these reminiscences were derived. 
But there was one favorite argument of the Moderator which sunk 
into his heart, and to which his future life returned a conclusive 
answer. They tauntingly asked, why not look at home ? Why 
send missionaries to foreign parts, when there is so much igno- 
rance, unbelief, and immorality, at your own doors ? He felt the 
force of the appeal ; and when he afterwards himself carried the 
Gospel into the parishes of Inveresk, or Gladsmuir, or Messel- 
burgh, or preached at the Cross of Aj^r, in the presence of Dr. 
M'Gill himself, or in the College Close of Aberdeen, or in the 
town of Thurso, he could not forget the exhortations of the Mod- 
erate ministers in the General Assembly, when they resisted 
foreign missions by insincerely talking of the necessities of their 
own people. 

Other, although less public proofs, of the degraded state of the 
dominant party in the Church might be mentioned, particularly a 
Presbytery dinner to which Mr. J. H. was invited in Edinburgh, 



128 MR. SIMEON'S VISIT. 

upon a special occasion, and to which he had gone, hoping for 
useful, perhaps spiritual, or, at least, rational conversation on 
those topics in which he was now chiefly interested. Instead of 
this the company were treated to Bacchanalian songs, the folly of 
which was aggravated into something approaching to wickedness 
by an admixture of ridiculous, if not profane, allusions to their 
own sacred calling and functions. The burden of one song was 
the prescription of " a bumper of Nottingham ale," in the pulpit 
at the different stages of a Presbyterian discourse. If, in the 
heyday of youth and folly, while God was not in all his thoughts, 
he had been disposed to turn away from the convivial excesses 
of his associates at sea, how was he likely now to appreciate such 
approaches to the same intemperance, in connection with eternal 
realities, amongst the professed heralds of the Cross, whose duty 
it was to warn men to flee from the wrath to come ? 

Shortly after the debate on Missions and the exhibition of what 
Bishop Warburton, in writing to Dr. Erskine, termed "Paganized 
Christianity," the visits of the Rev. Charles Simeon, of Cambridge, 
communicated to Mr. Haldane another and holier impulse. At 
the close of the Assembly of 1796, Mr. Simeon, invited by Dr. 
"Walter Buchanan, arrived in Edinburgh. It was his wish to 
make a short tour of pleasure in the Highlands, and it was 
arranged that he should meet Mr. James Haldane at Airthrey, 
and proceed by Balgonie, Melville House, Perth, Dunkeld, Blair 
Athol, to Glasgow. He went in the first instance to the house 
of Mr. Innes, in Stirling, and, as it was the sacramental week, he 
attended the preparatory services on the Saturday, and himself 
communicated on the Lord's day. At Airthrey he found Mr. and 
Mrs. James Haldane expecting him, their brother being himself 
in London, privately and quietly engaged about his Indian Mission. 
Mr. Simeon's visit to Airthrey, although only for a few days, was 
not without fruit, as it was marked by the blessing which it 
brought to a young lady, to whom, after listening to her music, 
he spoke on the importance of consecrating this and every other 
gift to the glory of God. 

It was on that occasion that Mr. Simeon took part, for the first 
time, in the Scotch Church, as a communicant at the Lord's table, 
thus marking the catholic spirit by which he was animated ; but, 
after all, only following the example of the great Archbishop 
Usher and other distinguished ornaments of the English Church. 
The celebrated Dr. Claudius Buchanan mentions in his. diary, that 



A SCOTTISH SACRAMENT. 129 

he spent his last Lord's day in England, with Dr. Bogue, at Gos- 
port, and partook of the Lord's Supper with his Church at Gosport. 
Mr. Simeon was, however, fatigued by the extreme and injudi- 
cious length of the services ; and, in his journal, bitterly complains 
of the preparatory service on Saturday, which lasted four hours and 
a half. The first preacher, Mr. Eobertson, discoursed for an hour 
and a quarter. He was followed by Dr. Campbell, whose "ser- 
mon was admirable," but lasted an hour and a half. " Had I," 
says Mr. Simeon, "been fresh and lively, I should greatly have 
enjoyed this excellent sermon, but I had no ears to hear ; the 
length of the service wearied me exceedingly. Nor was I singu- 
lar: the whole congregation were much like myself; many were 
asleep, and all the rest had a stupid, unmeaning stare, that evi- 
denced them to be altogether unmoved by the precious things 
that were spoken. After Mr. C. had finished, Mr. ShirefT, the 
minister of St. Ninian's, went up and (as they call it) gave 
directions respecting the time and manner of administering the 
sacrament next day. To this he added a word of exhortation." 
In talking of it at Airthrey, Mr. Simeon said, that Dr. Campbell's 
and Mr. ShirefFs sermon and exhortation seemed as if turtle and 
venison had been served after he had dined well on roast-beef and 
plum-pudding. Mr. Simeon's journal proceeds: — 

"Sunday, 19th. — Went with Messrs. Innes and Campbell to St 
Ninian's. Mr. Shireff began the service, and preached a useful 
sermon from Hebrews x. 10. After preaching above an hour, 
besides prayer and singing, he left the pulpit, and went to the 
head of the tables. There he gave an exhortation respecting the 
sacrament, which to me was more excellent than his sermon. 
*■•*?:*•'• I communicated at the second table, where Mr. Camp- 
bell exhorted. His exhortation was exceedingly precious to my 
soul. I was quite dissolved in tears. I made a full, free, and 
unreserved surrender of myself to God. Oh, that I may ever 
bear in mind His kindness to me, and my obligations to Him ! 
After communicating I left them, and saw, as I came into the 
church-yard, one preaching there in a tent. I walked home 
(three miles to Airthrey) alone by choice, and met numbers com- 
ing to the sacrament, which, as I understood, lasted till about 
eight in the evening. They had about a thousand communicants, 
a fresh exhortation to each table, and a sermon to conclude. 
They who could stay there from beginning to end, with any 
profit to their souls, must be made of different materials from me." 

9 



130 LORD BALGONIE AHD LORD LEVEN. 

It had been determined that the tourists should proceed on 
horseback, and Mr. Simeon, in an entry in his journal, soon after 
his arrival in Edinburgh, exclaims: "Everything that I could 
wish, and much more than I could have expected, has taken place 
On Thursday, Sir John Stirling offered me his own mare for my 
northern tour, and this day Mr. (James) Haldane has offered to 
accompany me." It seems, however, that Sir John Stirling's offer, 
for some reason, was ultimately declined, for he bought a horse at 
Stirling, which, from its color, was playfully named Dun Scotus, 
but which did no great credit to his country, as appears from one 
of his letters, written some months after his return to Cambridge. 
" Dun Scotus," he says, " fell lame seventy miles from home, but 
brought me home safely. I kept him two months, with a farrier 
to attend him most of the time, and then sold him for nine 
guineas, so that I was not any great gainer by him." Mr. J. 
Haldane was better mounted, and attended by one of his broth- 
er's servants, carrying the saddle-bags of both the travellers, after 
the fashion of the times : thus equipped, they left Airthrey on the 
20th June. They proceeded down the valley of the Forth, by 
the road which beautifully winds along the southern base of the 
Ochil hills, by Alloa and Dollar, to Balgonie, in Fife, where they 
were hospitably received by Lord Balgonie and his Lady, the 
daughter of that Mr. Thornton "about whose head," as the great 
Scottish missionary, Dr. Duff, has eloquently said, " the poet 
Cowper has woven a garland of imperishable renown." On the 
following day, Lord Balgonie himself rode with them to Melville 
House, the seat of his father, the Earl of Leven and Melville, 
under whose roof they found " something infinitely better than 
mere worldly pomp and grandeur." They then proceeded by 
St. Andrew's across the Tay to St. Madoe's, and thence to Perth 
and Dunkeld. From this beautiful place, which Mr. Eobert 
Haldane used, in the words of the Psalmist, to call " the city of 
the wood," they proceeded on the Saturday to Blair Athol, re- 
turning the same evening to Moulin, where the Rev. Mr. Stewart, 
afterwards of Dingwall, and then of Edinburgh, at that time 
ministered. The results of this visit were very memorable. Mr. 
Stewart had been previously earnest about his work from a sense 
of duty, but in himself coldly orthodox ; and like Luther, before 
he knew the glad tidings of the Gospel of justification by the 
finished work of Christ, groaning under a spirit of bondage and 
of fear. They reached Moulin on the Saturday morning prepara- 



MR. STEWART, OF MOULIN". 131 

tory to the Sacrament, and remained over the first service, which 
was by no means edifying. The next service was to be in Gaelic, 
and on this account they proceeded to Blair. At Blair there was 
no room in the inn, so that they were glad to avail themselves of 
Mr. Steward's kindness, and return in the evening to his hospita- 
ble mansion. It was the occasion of revival to Mr. Stewart's soul ; 
rather, as he himself says, "It was no revival; I never was alive 
till then." But his own letter to Mr. Black, written immediately 
afterwards, will best tell its interesting tale. 

" What thanks do I not owe you for having directed my two late visitors to 
call at my cottage, as I have thus had the honor and blessing of entertaining 
angels unexpectedly. Messengers of grace I must reckon them, as their visit 
has been thus far blessed to me, more than any outward dispensation of Provi- 
dence that I have met with. They were so kind as to put up with such accom- 
modation as we could afford them, though our house was a good deal out of 
order on account of Mrs. Stewart's illness, and spent two nights with us. Mr. 
Simeon gave us his friendly assistance on occasion of dispensing the Lord's 
Supper, and frankly preached two discourses on the Sabbath, besides serving a 
table in English, This was the whole of the English service for that day. His 
sermons, and the conversation and prayers, I have no doubt, of botft gentlemen, 
have indeed been eminently blessed to me. Since I first entered on my sacred 
office, 1 have not felt such a lively season as the last week has been. I had 
some private conversation, too, with my kind friend Mr. Haldane, which proved 
not a little edifying to me. I shall not foil to return his visit when I go next 
to Edinburgh, When I have such friends as him and you to see, with the 
prospect of being introduced perhaps to Dr. Buchanan, possibly to Dr. Davidson 
and C, I shall think it will be incumbent on me to make my visits to Edinburgh 
more frequent than they have been hitherto. And I am sure I shall have vastly 
more enjoyment in collecting spiritual knowledge, and deriving vigor and ani- 
mation from the Fountain of life, through the conversation and counsel of the 
servants of the Lord, than ever I found, or can find, in the conversations of all 
the literati or metaphysicians that your University contains." 

In another letter, addressed to Mr. Simeon, and dated Novem- 
ber 25, 1796, Mr. Stewart begins : " Ever since the few happy 
hours in which I was blessed with your company, I have daily 
thought, with pleasure and gratitude, of the Lord's loving-kind- 
ness to me, in sending two of his chosen servants, so unexpectedly 
and so seasonably, to speak to me the words of life." 

In another letter, he speaks of the impression produced by 
" the short interview" in Mr. Simeon's bed-room. This alludes 
to the manner in which his pious guest wished "good night" to 
his kind host, when the latter conducted him to his apartment. 
In doing so, Mr. Simeon briefly expressed his prayer that Mr 



132 REVIVAL AT MOULIN. 

Stewart might be fitted for the important and responsible charge, 
which he held as a minister of Christ. But the words were with 
power, and Mr. Stewart, under the influence of emotions produced 
by that memorable " good night," having next gone to Mr. James 
Haldane, and also conducted him to his room, they sat down 
together, and talked much and long concerning that Gospel which 
had been so recently revealed in all its glory and its grace to Mr. 
Simeon's fellow-traveller. The next morning was the Sacramen- 
tal Sabbath, and Mr. Sinieon himself not only communicated, but 
served one of the tables. The novelty of his position as an Eng- 
lish clergyman made him, however, rather nervous, and occasioned 
some slight blunders. 

In Mr. Simeon's interesting letter to Mr. Stewart, published in 
his Life by Eev. "W". Carus, there are one or two little matters of 
detail which are inaccurate, but which are only worthy of notice 
as showing how difficult it is to secure minute certainty in the re- 
lation of facts. The reason of their leaving Moulin upon the 
Saturday was their ignorance of Gaelic, and the reason of their 
return was simply the want of accommodation at Blair. Still, in 
any case, the circumstances were such as fully to warrant Mr. 
Simeon in saying, "It has often brought to my mind that expres- 
sion of the evangelist, ' He must needs go through Samaria.' 
... It is our privilege to expect those invisible interpositions, if 
we commit our way to Him ; and every instance that comes to 
our notice should encourage us to acknowledge Him in all our 
ways." 

It is only proper to add, that Mr. Stewart's conversion was 
followed by a remarkable revival in his parish and neighborhood, 
and that he gave so much countenance to itinerant preaching that 
his biographer, the Eev. Dr. Sievewright, from fear of giving of- 
fence, actually deemed it prudent, more than twenty years after- 
ward, to veil Mr. James Haldane's name under the initial H., al- 
though the biographer was recording letters in which Mr. Stewart 
himself expressly names him as a "messenger of grace" to his 
soul. 

On the following Monday they proceeded to Taymouth, a place 
with which Mr. J. A. Haldane was well acquainted, having in his 
youth resided there as a guest at the Castle, and gathered many 
interesting and fresh reminiscences of the pious Yiscountess Glen- 
orchy, whose husband did not live to attain the Earldom. Whilst 
halting their horses at Killiecrankie, to view that magnificent and 



MR. SIMEON'S RETURN TO CAMBRIDGE. 133 

rocky defile, where, amidst shouts of victory, the Viscount Dun- 
dee passed from the battle-field to the tribunal of God, Mr. Simeon's 
horse was seized with a fit and came to the ground, throwing his 
rider nearly to the edge of the precipice. On recovering himself, 
and after a time remounting, instead of being ruffled by the oc- 
currence, he spoke in the most striking and beautiful manner of 
the sudden transition he had nearly experienced. They had been 
speaking a little while before of the things of heaven, and he re- 
marked how wonderful it would have been to have been transport- 
ed in a moment, beyond the bounds of time and space, to that 
place of which they had been discoursing, and so leaving this 
world of trouble and sin, to have joined the general assembly and 
church of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven. 

From Taymouth they rode to Inverary, and thence to Arro- 
quhar and Luss, whence, after three hours' walking, they reached 
the summit of the lofty Benlomond. " There," says Mr. Simeon, 
"amidst mountain scenery, inexpressibly majestic, we went to 
prayer together, and dedicated ourselves afresh to God." Nine- 
teen years later, Mr. Simeon, for the third time, visited Scotland, 
and once more he ascended Benlomond, although not with Mr. 
Haldane, and with feelings of sacred and solemn delight, recalled 
the fond recollection of that act of dedication in which his com- 
panion and himself, the one in his twenty-eighth, and the other 
in his thirty-eighth year, had devoted themselves to the service 
of the Lord. 

On the following Lord's-day, Mr. Simeon preached twice at 
Glasgow ; and, after visiting Mr. Dale's establishment, at New 
Lanark and other places, particularly the residence of Sir John 
Stirling, they arrived at Edinburgh on the following Saturday, 
" crowned with loving-kindness and mercy," and in time for the 
sacrament in the Canongate, at which he was next day a commu- 
nicant. He preached in the evening at Lady Glenorchy's church, 
to three thousand people. He adds, " Mr. Haldane gave me a 
parting prayer." Next day he says : M After sermon this morn- 
ing, my dear friend, Mr. Haldane, left me, after having been my 
companion three weeks. We were mutually affected with fer- 
vent love to each other, and with thankfulness that we had been 
permitted so to meet together." 

Mr. Simeon arrived at Cambridge on the 30th of July, but not 
without incurring the risk of another fall with Dun Scotus, such 
as he experienced at Killiecrankie. He was fond of riding on 



134 LETTEE FEOM ME. SIMEON. 

horseback, but in these days of railways, it is curious to look back 
to the customs of a period, little more than half a century ago, 
when a clergyman and a college-fellow reckoned the purchase of 
a horse at Stirling, to be the most satisfactory method not only of 
accomplishing a Highland tour, but of returning from Edinburgh 
to Cambridge. 

Shortly after his arrival, he addressed the following letter to 
his friend : — 

" King's Coll., Cambridge, 

" Aug. 17th, 1796. 

" My dearest Friend and Brother, — Though I have been arrived at home 
no less than ten days, I am far from having got through all the business which 
so long an absence has entailed upon me : I cannot, however, any longer delay 
the just expressions of my gratitude to you, lest I should appear to be unmind- 
ful of the many obligations which you have conferred upon me, and of the hap- 
piness I enjoyed in your company and conversation. I was called away from 
Edinburgh somewhat sooner than I had fixed for my departure from it ; and ex- 
cepting one more sueh little accident as I experienced in your presence, near 
Moulin, I was brought in safety and comfort to the end of my journey. But I 
greatly missed my fellow-traveller. Now and then my mind was enabled to 
soar a little ; but having no opportunity of communicating its ideas, it grew 
torpid and dull. It was soon wearied in its flights, and distracted in its medi- 
tations. Even natural curiosity dozed, for want of some friend to whom one 
might express one's sense of the surrounding objects ; nor did I find any occa- 
sional relief from conversation with any pious person, for, except a Methodist 
preacher, whom I overtook on my road, about five miles south of Dunbar, I die* 
not see so much as one person that feared God between Edinburgh and Leeds. 

" And now what have I to do, but to devote myself more than ever unto God \ 
Surely this, my dear Brother, should be the effect which the Divine merciea 
should produce. I trust they have wrought thus on you, and I hope they will 
on me. 

"I rejoiced greatly to see the amiable and spiritual dispositions of your dear 
partner, and ardently do I wish, for your sake, for her sake, for your family's 
sake, that she may increase in the knowledge of her God and Saviour. Bid her 
take courage, and press forward with more and more alacrity. She will have 
much to conflict with, no doubt : but she will find it an inexpressible advantage, 
that she has an husband that will go hand in hand with her, as a fellow-heir of 
the grace of life. Pray present my very affectionate respects to her, and tell 
her that my heart's desire and prayer to God, on her behalf, is, that she may 
come forth into the full light and liberty of the Gospel, enjoying a spirit of 
adoption, and an earnest of her eternal inheritance. 

" I cannot conclude without begging you to accept my warmest acknowledg- 
ments for the kind attention which you showed me, during the whole of our 
continuance together. I trust that He who will not suffer a cup of cold water 
to go unrewarded, will one day recompense to you all the love which you show 
ed towards th3 most unworthy of all his prophets, and I earnestly pray that He 



135 DEATH OF COLONEL DUNCAN. 

may be your Companion and Guide through life, and after death your everlast- 
ing portion. 

" To hear of your welfare, and especially to hear of it from yourself, will be 
a rich gratification to ? 

" Your very affectionate and most indebted friend, 

"C. Simeon. 
" James Haldane, Esq., Airthrey, Stirling." 

Soon after the termination of the tonr with Mr. Simeon, the 
two brothers were called to mourn the loss of their elder uncle 
and guardian, who died of gout, at Lundie House, at the begin- 
ning of August. He was a man of a very noble, gallant, and 
energetic character, whose services were so highly prized by the 
Government, that it was with difficulty he obtained leave to retire 
from the army. His name still lingers in America, in connection 
with the campaigns in Canada, as appears from the fact, that it is 
prominently introduced in one of the historical romances of Coop- 
er, the American novelist. It has often been said of Colonel 
Duncan, that had opportunity offered, he would, in all probabil- 
ity, have been as distinguished on land as was his brother at sea. 
To both of his nephews he well performed the part of a kinsman. 
In the management of the elder brother's property he showed 
peculiar judgment, and the estates of Lochton and Keithock, 
which he purchased for him out of their father's personalty and 
the savings of the minority, more than doubled in value. An 
anecdote, in connection with a riot, which took place at Dundee, 
was often told by his nephews, as strongly indicative of his courage 
and military strategy. The mob had come out to burn down cer- 
tain mills, which were unpopular. The civil power was quite un- 
able to restrain their fury, and there were no soldiers at hand. 
The Colonel, in whose neighborhood the mills were situated, 
mounted his horse, and skirting the line of the mob, rode briskly 
along, calling out as he passed his brother magistrates, in a deter- 
mined tone, to offer no obstruction to the advance of the mob, 
but to allow the soldiers to get between them and Dundee. The 
word passed through the crowd, that soldiers had arrived, and the 
Colonel was gone to intercept a retreat. A panic arose, and the 
rush to regain Dundee soon left in tranquillity the scene of their 
intended devastation. In his county he was one of its most in- 
fluential aristocracy, and very shortly before his death turned the 
election in favor of the late Sir James Carnegie, of Southesk, in 
his contest with Sir David Scott. Having no issue, Colonel Dun- 



136 DISTRIBUTION OF TKACTS. 

can was succeeded by his younger and only brother, then Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the North Seas. 

From Mr. Simeon's letters and the account of his tour, it is not 
difficult to conclude, that his companion's progress in the Divine 
life had been both rapid and decisive. With him Christianity 
had become all in all, and his whole soul absorbed in the love of 
Christ, went forth in an ardent desire to promote his glory. For 
some time he had been a constant attendant at a meeting, held at 
the Rev. David Black's house in North Richmond street, where 
prayer was wont to be made by a few earnest Christians, influ- 
enced by a desire for spreading the Gospel, and promoting the 
glory of their Lord and Master. One of these prayer-meetings 
was held on Friday evening, and another on the Lord's-day morn- 
ing. The former is described, in November, 1795, as "now in- 
creased, and conducted on such a plan as not to interfere with the 
duties of the family or the closet. They assemble at seven 
o'clock on Sabbath mornings, and continue about an hour and a 
half, during which time three or four members usually pray, after 
having sung part of a psalm, and read a portion of Scripture." 

The Edinburgh Tract Society, which preceded the great Society 
in London by several years, had been formed, chiefly through the 
active zeal of the indefatigable Mr. John Campbell. But the first 
public distribution of tracts in Scotland seems to have been made 
by the Rev. Charles Simeon, who, during his tour, scattered both 
in the streets and highways, " The Friendly Advice." Different 
opinions will be formed as to the wisdom of this practice. Much 
depends on time and circumstances. But there is no doubt that, 
during the early part of his career, James Haldane witnessed 
much good fruit, as the result of following the example of his 
Cambridge friend. The venerable Countess of Leven, who looked 
with alternate doubts and satisfaction on lay preaching, gave her 
unqualified approbation to this novelty, and offered Mr. Campbell 
ten or twenty pounds, to be laid out in tracts. She pleasantly 
reproves her faithful correspondent, for not reporting more con- 
cerning Mr. Simeon's tour, and asks, "Is it accident or design ? 
why, especially as your friend Captain Haldane was his travelling 
companion ?" He replies with his wonted drollery, "lam sat- 
isfied to be nailed to the Grass Market, till Providence draw the 
nail. When Captain Haldane was talking of the tour, I told him I 
envied him : but in a minute I saw my blunder, and checked myself." 



SABBATH-SCHOOLS. 137 

About the same time Mr. Campbell, began to institute Sabbath- 
schools in Edinburgh and its neighborhood. To promote this 
object a new Sabbath-school Society was in 1797 formed in Edin- 
burgh, independent of clerical superintendence, which had for its 
object the establishment of Sabbath-schools in destitute localities. 
Connected with each teacher there was to be a committee, who 
were to aid him in the devotional exercises, and one of them was 
in rotation to deliver a short address to the children, parents, and 
any poor destitute persons that could be induced to attend. One 
of these schools was set up by Mr. Campbell at Loanhead, a col- 
lier village with a neglected population. Mr. James Haldane 
rode out with him to witness its commencement, but such was his 
reluctance to make himself conspicuous, that he could not be pre- 
vailed on to address a few words to the assembly of parents and 
children who crowded the Cameronian Meeting-house which had 
been lent for the benevolent object. On the following Lord's-day 
evening, this was done by Mr. Aikman, and Mr. Campbell adds, 
" Oh ! how many precious addresses proceeded from the silken or 
silver lips of that man of God during the following forty years." 
Hitherto his plans had been confined to Edinburgh. Mr. James 
Haldane began to think that he might himself do something to 
extend Sabbath-schools in the north of Scotland, although without 
any idea of preaching. But before making this attempt, which 
would have been incompatible with Mr. Campbell's occupations, 
he agreed to accompany that good man on a tour for a week to 
the west of Scotland. The following is the account of it extracted 
from Mr. Campbell's autobiography — 

" We set off on Monday morning, taking some thousands of tracts with us, 
in a one-horse chaise, distributing tracts to rich and poor as we proceeded. We 
obtained a meeting in Glasgow from a few friends of the cause of God, who 
were recommended to us as active and zealous. We laid before them the gen- 
eral neglect of giving religious instruction to the youth of our country, except 
in pious families — described the plan pursued in Edinburgh for educating the 
youth in the principles of the Gospel, by the formation of schools on the Sab- 
bath evenings, and the countenance that was given to the plan, and the ease 
with which children were collected, with the trifling expense that attended its 
execution. After some conversation, those present were formed into a Society 
for establishing and conducting Sabbath-evening schools in Glasgow and the 
surrounding towns and villages. We acted in the same way and with the same 
success in Paisley and Greenock. We also called on ministers of different de- 
nominations in the towns through which we passed, and conversed with them 
on the subject of Sabbath-schools, all of whom, I think, approved of the plan. 
I remember all the persons to whom we offered tracts on the road, whether 



138 TOUR TO THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 

they were in carriages, or on horseback, or on foot, received them, except ir. 
two cases, the one a gentleman on horseback, who would not condescend to 
stretch forth his hand to receive the proffered tract, but rode sullenly on: 
the other was that of three gentlemen on horseback, to whom we held out 
tracts on both sides of the gig; two took no notice, the third partly held out 
his hand to receive them, but immediately drew it back, as if they had been 
infectious. We left them lying upon the road, which was then dry, that if they 
repented they might still have them. We afterwards looked back, when we 
saw them halting in a group at the top of a rise, and receiving them from a 
boy, whom they had sent back to bring them to them. I found afterwards that 
they were three Burgher ministers who were returning from the Synod ; for 
the Rev. John Brown of Whitburn, eldest son of John Brown of Haddington, 
called upon me about three months afterwards to apologize for their rejecting 
our tracts. He said they heard who we were at the next town they came to 
(viz. Selkirk), and were sorry that they so treated us, but they thought they 
were papers on politics, for these were the sad days of Tom Paine, and the 
French Revolution, when the nation was on the very verge of rebellion. We 
arrived at home on Saturday evening. In three months afterwards we heard 
that the result of this one week's exertion was the formation of sixty Sabbath- 
evening schools ! The Christian zeal that had been excited in Scotland by the 
lately-formed Missionary Society in London, greatly helped to the success of 
our week's experimental journey." — Life of Campbell, p. 129. 

This journey to the west of Scotland in the spring of 1797, 
was the commencement of an active career of usefulness, which 
continued for no less than fifty -four years. But a reference to 
his own notes will once more enable us to trace the steps by 
which he was gradually led to become himself a preacher of the 
Gospel, — 

"For some time after I knew the truth, I had no thoughts to- 
wards the ministry. My attention was directed to the study of 
the Scriptures and other religious books, for my own improve- 
ment, and because I found much pleasure in them. "When I first 
lived in my own house, I began family worship on Sabbath even- 
ings. I was unwilling to have it more frequently, lest I should 
meet with ridicule from my acquaintance. A conviction of duty 
at length determined me to begin to have it every morning, but 
I assembled the family in a back-room for some time, lest any one 
should come in. I gradually got over this fear of man, and 
being desirous to instruct those who lived in my family, I began 
to expound the Scriptures. I found this pleasant and edifying to 
myself, and it has been one chief means by which the Lord pre- 
pared me for speaking in public. About this time, some of my 
friends remarked that I would by and by become a preacher. A 
person asked me whether I did not regret that I had not been a 



ORIGIN OF LAY PREACHING. 139 

minister, which made a considerable impression on my mind. I 
began secretly to desire to be allowed to preach the Gospel, which 
I considered as the most important as well as honorable employ- 
ment. I began to ask of God to send me into his vineyard, and 
to qualify me for the work. This desire continued to increase, 
although I had not the most distant prospect of its being gratified, 
and sometimes in prayer my unbelieving heart suggested that it 
could not be. I had no idea of going to the highways and 
hedges and telling sinners of the Saviour. However, I enter- 
tained some distant hope that the Lord would direct. Things 
which passed in conversation tended to increase my expectation, 
and a tour I proposed to undertake to the north with a view of 
establishing Sabbath-schools, at length opened a prospect of being- 
allowed to speak for Jesus. The success of a journey to the west 
country, increased my desire of going through the north, not to 
preach, but to establish schools, while I was to be accompanied 
by a minister from England, who should preach in the towns and 
villages. Before we set out, our plan was enlarged. Another 
Christian brother (Mr. Aikman) with whom I had become partic- 
ularly intimate in a prayer-meeting, who had studied for the min- 
istry, agreed to accompany us, and both he and I began to preach 
in a neighboring village about the same time. The journey to 
the north is pretty generally known, and ever since the Lord first 
allowed me to speak of him to others, I have found increasing 
pleasure in the work, and seen, I hope, more of the inward work- 
ings of my corrupt heart, while I have found His grace all 
sufficient." 

Mr. Campbell's account of the "Origin of Lay preaching at 
Gilmerton, near Edinburgh," is written in his own plain matter- 
of-fact style, — 

" I had," says Mr. Campbell, " an acquaintance in the large collier village of 
Gilmerton, and one who lived near it. They were frequently telling of the 
ignorance and irreligion of the inhabitants ; and no wonder, for they had noth- 
ing like the Gospel in the Parish Church for at least forty years. These 
reports made me often feel compassion for them, and I remember calling on 
Dissenting ministers of different denominations, urging them to supply poor 
Gilmerton with a sermon now and then, which they were to mention to their 
presbyteries ; but it came to nothing. Soon after this, a worthy friend of mine, 
a Mr. Buchan, one Monday morning introduced me to a Mr. Joseph Rate as a 
preacher from Dr. Bogue's academy at Gosport. On asking him what stay he 
intended to make in Edinburgh, he said for some weeks. I immediately related 
the circumstances of Gilmerton, and asked if he would preach to them while ha 



140 FIRST SERMON AT GILMERTON. 

remained, on Sabbath evenings. He said he would, if I could get him a place 
to preach in and people to preach to. I said I had no doubt but I should pro- 
cure both, for they had a kind of thatched town-house capable of containing at 
least two hundred persons; but Mr. Salmon comes to the Corn Market on 
Wednesday, and always calls upon me. I shall then be able to tell you posi- 
tively about both the place and congregation. On mentioning the matter to 
Mr. S., he said, ' If you will assure me of a preacher on Sabbath evenings, I 
will insure you of a place and congregation,' which I cheerfully engaged to do. 
I mentioned the matter to Mr. James Haldane and Mr. Aikman, who were de- 
lighted with the circumstance, and as I was obliged to attend to my own 
bishopric at Loanhead that evening, they engaged to walk with Mr. Rate to 
Gilmerton, where they were glad to find a house full of people waiting for 
them. After sermon he intimated that he would preach there regularly on the 
Sabbath evening for some time, or until further notice. The next evening the 
congregation was increased, by persons coming from a greater distance. During 
the succeeding week Mr. Rate was called to leave Edinburgh, as he expected 
only for a few days, of which the next Sabbath was one; but who was to sup- 
ply Gilmerton for that Sabbath evening? There was no one, and, yet a con- 
gregation would assemble. In our dilemma Mr. Haldane recommended to Mr. 
Aikman to do it; but he would not consent. However, he was afterwards 
gained upon to consent to preach, by Mr. Haldane telling him that if he would 
consent to preach the next Sabbath, and Mr. Rate did not return during the 
week, he would engage to supply the succeeding Sabbath. This offer, coming 
from a sailor, touched the right chord in Mr. Aikman's warm heart, and con- 
strained him to comply with the solicitation to preach, and he did preach, greatly 
to the satisfaction of the judicious Christians who were present, and no Mr. 
Rate making his appearance the following week, Mr. Haldane was obliged to 
take his place on the Sabbath evening, much to the satisfaction of the 
congregation." 

Mr. J. Haldane's first sermon thus alluded to was preached at 
Gilmerton, on the 6th May, 1797, and on the same day his third 
daughter was born. Amongst those who were present at the ser- 
mon was the well-known Dr. Charles Stuart, of Dunearn, whom 
it may be proper here to introduce to the reader. Dr. Stuart was 
a lineal descendant of the good Eegent Murray, and at one time 
stood third in prospective succession to that ancient Earldom. 
He was a man of deep piety, and induced to enter on the study 
of divinity, at a time when the ministry of the Church of Scotland 
presented few temptations to a man of birth and family. He was 
presented to the parish of Cramond, near Edinburgh, and married 
a daughter of the venerable Dr. Erskine, who was himself par- 
tially disinherited by his father (the Blackstone of Scottish juris- 
prudence) because he had declined the profession of the law and 
assumed that of a minister, which, in the judgment of the Scot 
tish aristocracy, was then a choice unworthy of a descendant of 



DR. CHARLES STUART. 141 

the noble houses of Buchan and Mar. Dr. Stuart did not, how- 
ever, remain long satisfied with the Church of Scotland. In his 
thirst for general information and the society of good men, Dr. 
Stuart had gone from the Divinity Hall in Edinburgh to some of 
the Dissenting Academies in London, and there imbibed notions 
unfavorable to the union between Church and State. For some 
time these opinions lay dormant, but at length he became con- 
vinced that he ought not to baptize the children of unbelievers, 
or admit to the Lord's table those who did not make a consistent, 
profession of Christianity. Acting on this persuasion, he found, 
on examining his parishioners, that there was hardly a family 
whose children he could baptize, or whose adult members he 
could admit to the Lord's table. The pain of his scruples was 
aggravated by his hypochondriacal constitution, and an alterna- 
tion of high and low spirits, which made him at one time as 
melancholy in his solitary hours as he was at other times joyous 
as a companion. The result was that he resigned his charge, 
quitted the Church of Scotland, studied medicine, took his degree 
as a physician, and became a zealous Baptist. Still it was his 
more peculiar honor to be "a lover of good men" of every name, 
and a promoter of every enterprise which had for its object the 
diffusion of the Gospel. 

When Mr. James Haldane preached his first sermon, Dr. Stuart 
was at once surprised and delighted with the power, the energy, 
and the earnestness of the preacher. He pronounced him a 
Boanerges, and became from that moment an admirer and friend. 
There is no doubt that Dr. Stuart's influence on Mr. James Hal- 
dane was considerable, as it was also on several other eminent 
men ; and it would have been remarkable if it had not been so, 
considering Dr. Stuart's active zeal, affectionate friendship, as well 
as his elegant scholarship, critical acuteness, general knowledge, 
and attractive qualities. In the preceding year the " Missionary 
Magazine" had been commenced, under the auspices of Dr. Stuart, 
with Mr. Ewing as the editor. 

The preaching at Gilmerton was attended with a blessing. The 
people flocked in crowds to hear Mr. Aikman and the Sea-Captain. 
The parish minister, who had been at first quiescent, now burned 
with indignation, and took means to deprive them of the school- 
house, in which they had hitherto preached, and which had been 
filled to overflowing. But Mr. Falconer, a pious tradesman, pro- 
cured a spacious loft as a substitute, and when this was found 



142 ANECDOTE. 

insufficient, a large barn, which continued to be filled to excess 
by the people, who flocked from the neighborhood, and listened 
with interest to their earnest and affectionate appeals. About 
this time an incident occurred, which Mr. James Haldane men- 
tioned with emotion not long before his death, in conversing with 
the surviving sister of Mr. Aikman, who was one of the last 
persons he visited. He was crossing the High-street near the 
market, then held round the Tron Church, when a countryman, 
dressed like a miller, with a whip tied over his shoulder, rushed 
across the street, and eagerly holding out his hand, said, "Oh! 
Sir, I'm glad to see you." Mr. J. Haldane, surprised at this 
familiarity, replied, "I do not know you," "Ah! Sir," ex- 
claimed the honest carter, as the big tear rolled down his manly 
cheek, "but I know you, for you preached the Gospel to me at 
Gilmerton." 

Miss Aikman, who records this touching anecdote, goes on as 
follows: — "A considerable degree of general excitement arose 
out of the preaching at Gilmerton, and some even of the Evan- 
gelical ministers in Edinburgh became afraid of the consequences 
of lay preaching. But the two preachers increased in boldness, 
and hearing of the death-like state of the north of Scotland, and 
the carelessness and immorality of the ministers, resolved to make 
a tour, and examine personally into the state of religion, and 
preach the Gospel in the streets of the different towns and popu- 
lous villages visited. They made this plan the subject of prayer 
and consultation, and when it was fixed that they should go, each 
of them wrote an address to the congregation at Gilmerton, and 
got a large impression printed for distribution on the road. In a 
letter I had from Miss Stuart (Dunearn), she says, ' My father has 
read both your brother's address and the Captain's with great de- 
light.' They also reprinted a tract, written by the Eev. Charles 
Simeon, of Cambridge, entitled, ' An Advice to all whom it may 
Concern,' and these tracts they gave away at every place where 
they preached, to all who would receive them, two years before 
the London Tract Society was formed in 1799. On the evening 
before their departure for the north, there was a special meeting 
for prayer held in the Kev. David Black's house, North Eichmond- 
street, where they were recommended by the brethren to the grace 
of God for the work in which they were about to engage." 

It was a memorable tour, the first of a series of successive itin- 
erancies, in which Mr. James Haldane, at first accompanied by Mr. 



KEY. CHARLES SIMEON. 143 

Aikman, afterwards by Mr. Innes, or again by Mr. Campbell, 
preached in almost every town or populous village in Scotland, — 
from Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Solway Frith to John o' Groat's 
and the northern islands of Orkney and of Shetland. Good men 
may differ in their opinions as to the general question of the law- 
fulness of lay preaching, but no well-judging Christian will think 
it wise to condemn that on which the Lord has stamped the seal 
of his approbation. Upon the tour to the North in 1797 there 
was poured out a blessing which never can be mistaken, and 
whatever may be said of the regularity of their commission, it 
will be safer to adopt the sentiments so beautifully expressed in 
one of Mr. Simeon's letters to Mr. James Haldane after his 
return. 

"With respect to your excursion, I am far from having entertained the 
opinion you suppose. I must acknowledge that I think immortal souls of such 
value, that I should rejoice if all the Lord's people were prophets. With re- 
spect to regularity, propriety, &c, the most godly men in all ages have differed 
in their judgment; and I find it so difficult precisely to draw the line in any 
case of my own, that I do not presume to judge for others. Some think they 
may eat meat, and others not; I neither judge nor despise, but leave all to 
their own Master. We certainly must not do moral evil, that good may come. 
But if mercy and sacrifice stand in opposition to each other, we may choose 
mercy; and if David and his men be fainting with hunger, they may eat the 
forbidden bread. I love all good men of all descriptions, and rejoice in the 
good they do, whether they do it in my way or not. I think for myself and 
act for myself, and leave others to do the same. As a minister who has a flock 
that is dear to him, I stand more aloof from those who might injure them than I 
should if I were a private individual. But if I must err on one side, I wish it 
to be on the side of love and zeal." 



CHAPTER VII. 

[1797.J 

When Mr. James Haldane and Mr. Aikman commenced their 
first preaching tour through the North of Scotland, they took 
their commission from the obligation imposed on every believer 
to proclaim to others the Gospel of salvation, and from the pray- 
ers with which they were solemnly commended to the grace of 
God in the house of their pastor, the much honored David Black, 
the Minister of Lady Yester's Church. Disputes there may be as 
to the lawfulness of what is called lay preaching, and assuredly 
the great body of private Christians have neither the opportunity, 
the ability, nor the leisure, to preach in public. But the office of 
an Evangelist is, in some sense, imposed upon every Christian in 
whatever sphere he moves. For surely it cannot be denied that 
every believer is bound, in his family and amongst his friends, to 
make known to others the glad tidings of salvation. Accordingly 
we read (Acts viii. 1, 4), that when "the Church were all scat- 
tered abroad, except the apostles" — " therefore they that were scat- 
tered went everywhere preaching the word." "If," says an able 
divine, "if the Gospel be true, can there be any danger of sin in 
proclaiming its truths ? If the Gospel be salvation, and if God 
wills the salvation of men, can it be sinful to tell them of that 
which saves from hell ?" But the question was fully and warmly 
debated at the time Mr. J. Haldane entered on his itinerancies, 
and the arguments which he has himself so ably drawn from 
Scripture in the introduction to the Journal of his Tour in 1797, 
cannot now be easily refuted. "We would not," he says, "here 
be understood to mean that every follower of Jesus should leave 
the occupation by which he provides for his family to become a 
public preacher. It is an indispensable Christian duty for every 
man to provide for his family ; but we consider every Christian is 



LAY PREACHING. 145 

bound j wherever he has opportunity, to warn sinners to flee from 
the wrath to come, and to point out Jesus as the way, the truth, 
and the life. Whether a man declare those important truths to 
two, or two hundred, he is, in our opinion, a preacher of the 
Gospel, or one who declares the glad tidings of salvation, which 
is the precise meaning of the word preach? 

Having very forcibly asserted the right of every man who 
knows the Gospel to proclaim it, he next disclaims any design of 
usurping or intruding into the Pastor's office, an office which was 
quite distinct from that of an Evangelist, as evidenced by the 
apostolic declaration that there were " some evangelists, and some 
pastors and teachers." (Ephes. iv. 11.) 

His reasoning is powerful, and its force was substantially ad- 
mitted by Mr. Simeon, Mr. Scott the Commentator, as well as the 
venerable John Newton, and others of his correspondents. He 
winds up his able defence with the following words : — " Such are 
some of the arguments which have satisfied our minds that we 
have a right to preach the Gospel, founded both on reason and 
on the "Word of God. We formerly hinted that our situation in 
life enabled us to undertake the journey without interfering with 
necessary avocations, and we deemed the low state of religion a 
sufficient call for us to go to the highways and hedges, and en- 
deavor to compel our fellow-sinners to lay hold on the hope set 
before them in the Gospel. The writings of laymen in defence 
of Christianity have always been considered peculiarly important, 
as there is less ground to suspect such men of interested motives, 
and the clergy are naturally led to refer to such writings when 
the enemies of the Gospel have ascribed their zeal to ambition 
and priestcraft. Strange, then, if we might not speak on subjects 
on which we might have written!" 

Eesting on these principles, actuated by these motives, encour- 
aged by the prayers of their brethren, and stimulated by an ear- 
nest and affectionate zeal to promote the Gospel of their Lord and 
Saviour, Mr. J. A. Haldane, accompanied by Mr. Aikman and 
Mr. Joseph Eate, left Edinburgh on Wednesday, 12th July, 1797, 
having first addressed the following as a manifesto of their de- 
signs : — 

" To the Editor of the ' Missionary Magazine," 1 from the persons engaged in the 
Scotch Itinerancy. 

" The advantage of missionary schemes, both in England and Scotland, has 
emarkably appeared, not only in exciting the zeal of Christians to send the 

10 



146 FIRST TOUR TO THE ITORTH. 

Gospel of Jesus to the dark places of the earth, but to use means to extend its 
influence at home. With this view a missionary journey has "been undertaken 
to the northern part of Scotland, not to disseminate matters of doubtful dispu- 
tation or to make converts to this or the other sect, but to endeavor to stir up 
their brethren to flee from the wrath to come, and not rest in an empty profes- 
sion of religion. Accordingly, they are now employed in preaching the word 
of life, distributing pamphlets, and endeavoring to excite their Christian breth- 
ren to employ the talents committed to their charge, especially by erecting 
schools for the instruction of youth. As the Lord alone can crown their en- 
deavors with success, and, as He has declared, that for all the blessings He be- 
stows on his Church and people He will be entreated, they earnestly request 
the prayers of the friends of Jesus. That their object may be misrepresented, 
they have no doubt. It has already been said, they are going with a design of 
making people dissatisfied with their ministers; but they can appeal to the 
great Searcher of hearts, that they are determined, in their conversation or 
preaching, to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. If they should 
meet with teachers who do not follow the apostolic rule, they will not bid them 
God speed, lest they become partakers of their evil deeds ; but they love no 
man more or less because he is of the Establishment or of the Secession. 
They would therefore request, that intercession should be made for them by the 
Church of Christ without ceasing, that they may have a prosperous journey; 
and that many who are now disobedient may be, by means of them, turned to 
the wisdom of the just, that God in all things may be glorified through Christ, 
to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. Amen." 

Tliey travelled at their own expense, in a light open carriage 
purchased for the occasion. They were largely provided with re- 
ligious tracts and pamphlets, which they also themselves printed 
for the purpose ; and fresh supplies were forwarded to different 
stations on their route. Of Mr. Simeon's " Friendly Advice to 
all whom it may concern," they circulated 5,000 ; of Mr. Hal- 
dane's " Address," 4,000 ; of Mr. Aikman's, 3000 ; besides 8,000 
short sermons and other tracts. They were also accompanied by 
Mr. Joseph Eate as far as Inverness, where he was usefully occu- 
pied for more than two months, while his colleagues proceeded to 
the Orkney Islands and to Caithness. The account of this tour, 
as well as the Introduction and Appendix, were chiefly written 
by Mr. James Haldane. It is marked by his characteristic manly 
simplicity, and is singularly devoid of egotism or self-seeking. 
Even the good that was done is scarcely noticed, and, in one of the 
few instances where it is just glanced at, it is said, — " To the name 
of Jesus we would desire to render all the glory of the undeserved 
honor and happiness of being instrumental in plucking any of 
our fellow-sinners as brands from the burning." 

The Journal begins : — 



KEKRYMUIE. 147 

"July 12. — Left Edinburgh (after frequent, earnest, and united prayer to 
God for direction and support), and arrived at Northfeery, where we immedi- 
ately began our labors. Preached in a school-room to about fifty persons. 
Came forward to a village called Keltie Bridge about ten at night, where they 
preached next morning.'' 

Having, on the 14th, preached at Perth, Scoon, and Cupar, 
they proceeded to Meigle, (xlamis, and Kerrymuir, preaching in 
hospitals, at market-crosses, and in churchyards, attracting some 
attention, but not so much at first as afterwards. In order to fur- 
nish an idea of their plan, and as this was the first occasion on 
which the false doctrines of the parish ministers were openly at- 
tacked, we shall insert Mr. J. Haldane's own entry in the pub- 
lished Journal : — 

" Lord' s-day, July 16th. — Kerrymuir. — Preached in the morning, at eight 
o'clock, in the market-place, to upwards of 200 people. Went to church and 
heard sermon. The minister preached from 1 John iii. 8. The sermon did not 
appear to us glad tidings to sinners. The object of it was to show, that the 
Son of God came into the world to instruct and enable men to destroy the 
works of the devil. He represented the Gospel as a contract between God and 
man, of which the equitable condition was repentance and sincere, although im- 
perfect, obedience, 'which God,' he added, 'was too just and too good not to 
accept.' As he read the sermon, and repeated every passage of the smallest 
importance, it was impossible for us to mistake the meaning of any of them. 
The Lord's Supper was then dispensed ; and it surely must affect the minds of 
all who know the importance of the Gospel and the value of men's souls, to 
learn that, immediately afterwards, upwards of 1,500 persons, daily acquiescing 
in such doctrine as has been mentioned, professed to commemorate the death 
of Christ. We heard one table served by a neighboring minister. This per- 
son, to guard the communicants against the commission of sin, told them that, 
if they fell into any after that day, there remained no more sacrifice for them. 
. . . When the Church was dismissed in the evening, went to the top of a 
walled-stair in the market-place, which the congregation had to pass, and imme- 
diately began as usual by singing. There might probably be near 1,000 people 
who stopped. Preached to them from Mark xvi. 15, 16, 'Go ye into all the world, 
and preach the Gospel to every creature,' &c. Explained to them the Gospel, 
and the circumstances which rendered it glad tidings to every creature ; showed 
that it w T as a dispensation wholly of grace, and that it was completely contra- 
dictory, both to Scripture and to fact, to represent a man as capable of doing 
anything in order to render himself acceptable to God. . . . Told the people, 
plainly, that what they heard was not the Gospel, and urged them to search the 
Scriptures for themselves, mentioning, at the same time, that our only motive 
in making these observations was love to their immortal souls, whose final state, 
we were convinced, depended upon their belief or rejection of the Gospel. As 
to their minister, we could have no ill-will towards him ; but, on the contrary, 
sincerely prayed to God that He might give him repentance to the acknowledg- 
ment of the truth." 



148 FIRST TOUE TO THE NORTH. 

They again preached on the Monday morning, at Kerrymuir, 
to a large congregation, many of whom came in purposely from 
the country ; and then proceeded to Forfar, where they preached 
in the street to a very attentive congregation, and took occasion 
to warn the people against Paine's "Age of Keason," which had 
been there extensively circulated and obtained some footing. At 
Brechin they preached to a crowded and attentive auditory, and 
where, for the first time, they availed themselves of the town- 
drummer to announce the sermon. The Itinerants apologized for 
this mode of publishing their sermons, expressing a fear lest it 
might shock the feeling of some serious persons. " But," says Mr. 
H. , " these emotions ought certainly to subside when we consider the 
vast importance of using every means to assemble careless sinners 
to hear the Word of God, and the impossibility of our adopting 
any other mode equally effectual for giving general notice in our 
limited time." Accordingly, the bellman, or town-drummer, as 
the case might be, was generally charged with an intimation ; 
and in the Orkney Islands the people, of their own accord, sum- 
moned their more distant neighbors by lighting beacon fires on 
the hills. 

At Montrose, where they preached twice, they observe, " We 
were sorry to learn that many of the children in Montrose were 
unable to read, in consequence of going to the cotton manufactory 
at a very early age. They are greatly neglected by their parents, 
and crowd the streets on the Lord's-day." This remark shows 
how soon the establishment of factories and the employment of 
young children began to corrupt and demoralize the people. 
With reference to the ignorance of the children there is the fol- 
lowing note l-rrr- 

" This is by no means to be considered as the unavoidable consequence of 
attending a cotton manufactory. In the cotton mills at Lanark, established by 
Mr. Dale, the greatest attention is paid, both in teaching the children to read 
and in instructing them in the principles of Christianity. It would be well if 
those who imitate that friend of his country in employing children in their 
manufactories, would imitate him also in his earnest care to communicate the 
blessings of religious knowledge to their tender minds." 

From Montrose the tourists proceeded to Bervie, and thence 
to Stonehaven, where, amidst the remnants of Popery and non- 
juring Episcopacy, they "noticed the greatest indifference to the 
concerns of eternity that they had anywhere remarked/' although 
there were two Episcopal chapels besides the parish church. 



LETTER TO MR. CAMPBELL. 149 

The insertion of the following letter from J. A. Haldane to Mr. 
Campbell, although hastily written, may be more interesting, and 
have in it more of freshness, than extracts from a journal pre- 
pared for the public. It is dated, Banff, July 28th, 1797 : — 

" My dear Friend, — It gave us much pleasure to hear of your welfare this 
morning, by your letter to Mr. Aikman. I received your other letter at Aber- 
deen, and it gave us cause to glorify God on your behalf when we heard he had 
so strengthened and countenanced you at Gilmerton. I hope and believe, that 
your labors there will not be in vain. But, while I am on this subject, I would 
say a few words as to your exerting yourself too much. You say you are 
sometimes at a loss what is duty, but I imagine all your friends see clearly that 
you ought to spare yourself. I do not mean to say what you ought to do and 
what not, but you ought to be guided by the state of your body and not ex- 
haust your strength. By following this plan you will, humanly speaking, do 
more in the Lord's service in the long run ; and therefore here is a proper open- 
ing to exercise self-denial. Mr. Newton says, in one of his letters, that the 
devil would be glad to have you out of Edinburgh. I believe he would be glad 
to have you out of the world, although it were to remove you to a better. You 
will think it hard that I should first wish you to take more work and then find 
fault, but you know that nothing but unfeigned affection for you and desire to 
promote the Redeemer's glory can actuate me in this matter. I therefore think 
that you should endeavor to get some one to assist you at Lonehead, and you 
can give an exhortation at the end, and sometimes at Gilmerton. Perhaps you 
may get a curate. But you wish me to tell you what we are doing. I should 
have written to you before now, but I wrote to Mr. Ewing and told him to ac- 
quaint you of our progress, and really our time is so short that we cannot em- 
ploy much of it in writing letters. I know there is no one more interested in 
our success than yourself, and none, I am persuaded, who remembers us more 
at a throne of graee. Therefore, be assured, when we are long in writing to 
you it is not owing to forgetful ness, for I believe you are in each of our hearts. 
You ought to be on mine, for there is no one whose preaching, conversation, or 
writings, have been so useful to me as the hours we have spent together. The 
letter to Mr. Ewing was from Stonehaven. We went on next day to Aberdeen 
and saw several brethren, who were very kind, but seemed to think we were 
going rather too far in preaching in the streets, &c. We spoke to them at sup- 
per about schools, &c, but there were so many objections, that unless we had 
stayed and taught the schools ourselves, little good seemed likely to be done. 
But I hope what we said will bring the matter under consideration, and that 
hereafter something of that kind may be established. The parties are not much 
united, which is a vast loss. We preached twice on Saturday at Old Aberdeen, 
once there on Sabbath morning ; twice on Sabbath, and once on Monday morn- 
ing, at Gilhomston, a small town in the neighborhood. ... So that in two 
half-days we preached ten times in that town and neighborhood. ... I am 
to stay here all Sabbath. Intend preaching to-morrow night at M'DufF town, 
within about a mile from this place. To preach on the Green Sabbath morn- 
ing, at M'Duff town afternoon, and here in the evening. I have not found the 



150 FIRST TOUR TO THE NORTH. 

least inconvenience from preaching, although sometimes I have been obliged to 
raise my voice a good deal. The people are really perishing for lack of knowl- 
edge. Pray, then, that what we say may be blessed, and lead them to search 
the Scriptures for themselves. We shall not have too many pamphlets. In- 
deed I suppose we shall need to have sent us what we have left at Edinburgh^ 
We shall hope to hear from you by the time we get to Inverness. We were 
much refreshed by your letter this morning, and some others which we received. 
We need something to encourage us, although we have met with enough of 
the Lord's goodness to put to shame our unbelief. He sometimes brings us 
down that we may look to Him, but He has disposed the hearts of all to behave 
to us w r ith much civility and respect in every place. It is a great comfort to 
know that so many of the Lord's people are praying for us. We have, I am 
persuaded, experienced the benefit of their prayers. It is now past five. You 
will soon, I suppose, meet at Mr. Black's. May the Lord meet with you. I 
know you will remember us. A. and R. will, I suppose, be preaching at the 
very time. I am much obliged by your kindness to my wife. She is very sen- 
sible of it. I expected to have heard from her to-day. Remember me to Mr. 
Ewing kindly. I have got his letter. I shall write to him some time hence ; 
you can give him what information there is in this letter. It is written in a 
very hurried manner, as you will see. I cease not to pray for you and the 
people of Gilmerton and your colleague. May your labors be crowned with 
abundant success. Remember us most kindly to Mr. and Mrs. Black and all 
our friends. The brethren salute you much. 

" I am, my dear Sir, 

" Yours very affectionately, 

" (Signed) J. A. Haldane.' 

At Aberdeen a circumstance occurred, which, many years 
afterwards, gave rise to a gross exaggeration, to the effect that 
they had been arrested at the instigation of some of the Profes- 
sors, for preaching to the students in the College-close. When 
this idle tale was mentioned in a letter to Mr. J. Haldane, in the 
year 1842, as an old story still circulated on the authority of the 
widow of one of the Professors, then living at Brighton, he replied 
as follows : — 

"The matter at Aberdeen was simply this. Intending to 
preach out of doors on the Lord's-day evening, I was told that the 
College-close would be an excellent place, so the town drummer 
was sent round to give notice. On Sunday morning, before 
breakfast, I received a message from one of the Magistrates, who 
was also a Professor, that he wished to see me. On presenting 
myself, he inquired how I came to intimate preaching in a place 
which was not public. I replied that I had been informed that 
there would be no objection in any quarter. ' Who told you so V 
I replied that I was told it and believed it, but would not say by 



COLLEGE CLOSE AT ABERDEEN. 151 

whom. He pressed the matter very much, but saw I was firm. 
I had been so told by one highly respectable, who spoke in good 
faith, but whom I would not implicate. But I said, ' Since it ap- 
pears that I was misinformed, I have no wish to persist, and I 
will preach elsewhere.' 'No,' said the Baillie, 'that will be worse; 
it will occasion a riot, and our windows will be broken.' ' Then,' 
said I, 'as you wish it, I will preach,' and accordingly I did so to 
a very great congregation. For this the place was well adapted. 
It is not impossible that the widow's story may be correct in re- 
gard to my telling the Professor that the Gospel was of more 
importance than the studies of the young men, though I do not 
recollect it. At all events, they were not engaged in their studies, 
at least within the College, on the Sabbath evening. There is, 
however, an episode to the story of the sermon. The Magistrates 
called their drummer to account, and fined him a guinea. He 
was obliged to pay, or would have lost his office. When I heard 
it, I sent him the money, with which he was very well pleased, as 
he had no expectation of it. Not long after my preaching, the 
Magistrates of Aberdeen sent a complaint to the Admiralty of 
their trade not being duly protected. The Admiralty referred 
their letter to Lord Duncan (as Commander-in-chief of the North 
Seas), who told me that he wrote a very sharp letter to the Magis- 
trates on the occasion. Of course, he knew nothing of any dif- 
ference between them and me, but in those days they attributed 
the sharpness of his rebuke to their interference with me, and I 
met with no further interruption at Aberdeen." 

The sermon in the College-close was the more remarkable on 
this account, that although Mr. J. Haldane had before preached 
to the colliers at Gilmerton, and also at various places between 
Edinburgh and Aberdeen, this was the first occasion on which he 
addressed a crowded audience, composed of persons of all conditions 
in life. It might be said that the whole population of Aberdeen 
turned out by thousands to hear an East India Captain. There 
was novelty in the fact ; but his powers as a preacher were also 
beginning to be known, and the multitude was so great that even 
in the spacious court which they occupied they "almost trod upon 
each other." The people listened with deep attention as the speaker 
addressed them from Eom. i. 16, "I am not ashamed of the Gos- 
pel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every 
one that believeth." He spoke with that earnest fervor of spirit 
which gives wings to thought, and inspires eloquence in those 



152 FIKST TOUR TO THE NORTH. 

who are least solicitous about oratory. On a subsequent occasion 
he preached in the streets of Aberdeen on a Sabbath evening, and 
next morning one of his hearers was found dead, but on his knees, 
in the attitude of prayer. 

In the above letter Mr. J. Haldane alludes to his intention to 
remain at Banff, to preach once on the Saturday at a little village 
in the neighborhood, as well as three times on the Lord's- day. 
These intentions were fulfilled, and his ministrations produced a 
deep sensation in the town and district. On the Sunday evening 
the Battery-green was usually crowded by multitudes, attracted 
by the military band which during the summer performed for 
two hours every evening. But on this occasion the commanding 
officer, in compliment to Mr. Haldane, very politely intermitted 
the parade, so as to leave the green undisturbed, and more par- 
ticularly to give the soldiers an opportunity of attending sermon. 
But there is another circumstance connected with his preaching 
on the Saturday evening, which is still more interesting. It was 
unknown to himself, and is one of the many instances which 
prove how little a preacher can be aware of the effect of the mes- 
sages he delivers. It was communicated by the Eev. Dr. Morison, 
of Chelsea, after the death of Mr. James Haldane, of whom he 
said that a remarkable sermon of his, preached on a certain sum- 
mer's evening in 1797, on the banks of the Dovern, near Banff, 
had been blessed to his excellent and pious wife. The details are 
given in the following letter, written by Mrs. Morison : — ■ 

"April 29, 1851. 

" My Dear Sir, — When the news reached us of your venerable and beloved 
father's removal from this vale of tears, I did indeed feel (though I never had 
the honor of a personal acquaintance with him) that I had lost a true friend, 
one to whom I shall owe much in eternity, where, through the mercy of ' God 
our Saviour,' I hope yet to meet him, and to converse on all the way in which 
the Lord hath led us, to prove us and to try us, in this wilderness. I do not 
know that the incident to which my husband referred, in a late note, is worthy 
of being formally recorded, yet to me it must always be so interesting that I 
cannot decline communicating it, as well as memory will permit at this distance 
of time. 

" In the summer of 1797, Captain Haldane, as he was then called, visited my 
native town, in company with one or two other gentlemen, whose names I do 
not remember. By the usual mode of advertisement, the tuck of drum, a ser- 
mon was announced, not at the usual place, the Battery-green, but at a neigh- 
boring village, on the green banks of the gently-flowing Dovern. The reason 
for the selection of this spot was the fact, that the Battery-green had been 
previously engaged by a company of equestrians. I was then a very little child, 



SEEMON OX THE RANKS OF THE DOYEKN". 

and I well remember I had been invited by a school-fellow to accompany her 
to see the equestrians. 

'■ We had actually set out to go to the place ; but before reaching the spot, 
a worthy lady, who knew us both, met and accosted us, ' Where are you going, 
my young friends?' My companion replied, 'To the Battery-green, to see the 
horsemen.' ' Oh,' said she, ' you had better go with me to the green banks, 
and hear Captain Haldane ; it will do you more good.' My companion said, 
'No; I can hear a sermon at any time, but I cannot see the horsemen.' She 
determined to execute her purpose, and went to the Battery-green ; and so far 
as I have heard, she has never entered on the narrow path. Young as I was 
then, I was influenced by an unseen hand to accept the pressing invitation to 
go to the sermon on the green banks, and quitted my companion. Captain 
Haldane arrived on horseback at the place where the people were assembled to 
hear him. He dismounted, and gave his horse to the charge of another gentle- 
man who stood by. He was then a young man, under thirty years of age, and 
had on a blue great-coat, braided in front, after the fashion of the times. He 
also wore powder, and his hair tied behind, as was then usual for gentlemen. 
And I can never forget the impressions which fell on my young heart, as your 
father, in a distinct, clear, and manly tone, began to address the thoughtless 
multitude that had been attracted to hear him. His powerful appeals to the 
conscience, couched in such simple phrase, at the distance of more than fifty 
years are still vividly remembered, and were so terrifying at the time, that I 
never closed an eye nor even retired to rest that night. I cannot be quite sure 
what was your father's text ; but from the frequent and pointed repetition of 
the words, " Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" I have reason to be- 
lieve that these must have been the subject of discourse. One thing I know, 
that the impression produced by what I heard was never effaced from my mind ; 
for though I did not fully embrace the Gospel for years after I had listened to 
your honored father, yet I never relapsed again into my former state of care- 
lessness and indifference to eternal things. 

" ' And oft, amid the giddy throng, 

Did conscience whisper, thou art wrong, 
Thou art not fit to die.' 

" Thus, my dear Sir, very imperfectly, but truthfully, have I endeavored to 
comply with your request ; and praying that every blessing may rest on you 
and yours, I am," &c. 

The sermon thus referred to produced a very general impres- 
sion. The preacher drew the character of various classes of man- 
kind, — the rich, the poor, the learned, the ignorant, the old, the 
young, the sinner and the self-righteous, — exposing the various 
subterfuges under which the deceitfulness of the human heart 
shrouds itself, and concluding, in regard to each, " Except ye 
repent, ye shall all likewise perish." 

In speaking of Banff and the neighborhood, Mr. J. H. observes, 
in the Journal : — 



154 FIRST TOUR TO THE NORTH. 

" Religion appears at all those places to be at a low ebb. A minister of this 
town published a Catechism, in which he openly avowed Socinian principles, 
and his opinions, we understood, had made considerable progress among the 
people. The Catholics here, as in some other parts of the north, are said to be 
upon the increase, partly owing to the zeal of their clergy, and the want of zeal 
in others. There is also here an Episcopal meeting. 

" July 31. — Met at Cullen, and after preaching and distributing tracts, as 
usual, went on to Fochabers (a village in the neighborhood of Gordon Castle). 
This place is notorious for its laxity of morals and indifference to religion. Of 
these we saw evident tokens in the carelessness and indifference of those to 
whom we preached. 

" August 1 . — Arrived at Elgin. The magistrates and ministers here prohib- 
ited the bellman from giving intimation of sermon; but though public notice 
was prevented, some friends of the truth were abundantly active, and at the ap- 
pointed hour we had a congregation of about 600 persons, to whom we preached 
in the street from the steps of the church. Preached again in the morning. 
We found that the Socinian Catechism formerly mentioned had been introduced 
into the grammar school of Elgin. At a public examination, however, upon 
one of the ministers of the Presbytery, who preaches the Gospel, remonstrating 
against this innovation (in which he was opposed by the ministers of the town 
who were present), the Provost ordered this new Catechism to be discontinued, 
and the shorter one of the Westminster Assembly to be restored." 

From Elgin they proceeded to Forres, and thence to Nairn, 
where they " met with a most affectionate reception from some 
friends of the Gospel, of the Anti-burgher congregation," amongst 
whom • ■ the interests of the kingdom of Christ seemed to flour- 
ish," and where there were monthly prayer-meetings and Sabbath- 
evening schools. At Fort- George, the Governor declined permis- 
sion to preach to the soldiers, on the ground that " he never heard 
a sermon in any fort on a week-day." Mr. Rate, therefore, re- 
mained behind, and his two friends, having preached at Campbel- 
town on the way, arrived at Inverness on the 5th of August. 
Next day being a sacrament Lord's-day, both of them preached 
twice, at different hours, on a hill adjoining the town, and on the 
Monday they again addressed " very great multitudes," morning 
and evening. They also held a meeting to form a Society for 
establishing Sabbath Schools. Three were shortly after erected, 
and instantly met with great success. 

On the 7th August, after once more preaching in the open air 
to a congregation of 500 anxious listeners, who stood all the time, 
although it rained, Mr. J. Haldane and Mr. Aikman left Inver- 
ness, with the design of visiting the Orkney Islands. This plan 
was arranged under the following circumstances, thus detailed in 
the Journal : — 



ORKNEYS. 155 

' ; Having heard while at Elgin that a fair was soon to be held at Kirkwall, at 
which there were usually great numbers of people from the different Isles of 
Orkney ; and having also heard of the deplorable state of many of those Islands 
from the want of religious instruction, we resolved that two of us should em- 
brace the opportunity of going thither with the merchants from Elgin, and then 
return through Caithness, Sutherland, and Ross-shires, to Inverness, in which 
place and neighborhood we thought it most advisable for one to stay and labor 
till the other two should return." 

At Nairn they again preached to a numerous congregation, and 
were refreshed by the intelligence received from their Christian 
friends at that place, as to "tokens of Divine presence" already 
manifested in connection with this missionary tour. Having 
again preached at Nairn, Auldearn, and Forres, they arrived at 
Elgin, and again, morning and evening, addressed congregations 
varying from 700 to 1000 persons. 



FIRST VISIT TO THE ORKNEY ISLANDS. 

The visit to the Orkney Islands, in 1797, brought to the inhab- 
itants a large outpouring of spiritual blessings. In a memoir of 
James Haldane, it demands peculiar notice. 

In these days, when railroads, steam, and electricity have 
brought us into close contact with almost every corner of the 
world, the Orkneys are still to a considerable extent separated 
from the rest of Britain. But fifty or sixty years ago, a tour to 
the northern islands of Scotland was an undertaking, so much 
more formidable than one to the Hebrides, that it was seldom at- 
tempted. The Pentland Frith, which connects the German Ocean 
with the Atlantic, from John o' Groat's House to Cape Wrath, 
was in itself a formidable barrier. It is the roughest and most 
dangerous of the Scottish seas, where the waves roll onwards, 
presenting a front, not sloping as in the ocean, but perpendicular 
as a wall, and where foaming whirlpools, powerful eddies, and 
startling waterspouts, produced by strong currents rushing in op- 
posite directions, or by sunken rocks, have given occasion to de- 
scriptions in which poets and artists have vied with each other in 
painting the sublime and terrible. The impetuous tides of the 
Pentland run at a velocity varying from three to nine miles an 
hour, and the currents are often most dangerous in fogs and calms. 
These tides are, however, equalled by those in the intersecting 
friths or sounds. 



156 FIKST TOUE TO THE NORTH. 



•Where restless seas 



Howl round the storm-swept Orcades, — 
Where erst St. Clair bore princely sway 
O'er isle and islet, strait and bay ; 
Still nods their palace to its fall, 
Thy pride and sorrow, fair Kirkwall ! 

The commencement of this missionary tour is thus chronicled 
in Mr. J. Haldane's Journal :— 

'•''August 11. — Left Elgin and came to Brough-head, where a good many of 
our friends from Elgin and the people of the village assembled, to whom we 
preached. We then embarked for Kirkwall. Several of our brethren accom- 
panied us to the boat, and bade us farewell, most affectionately commending us 
to the grace and care of the Lord Jesus. Sailed with a fair wind. It fell calm 
in the afternoon, and the wind seemed likely to become foul, but by the kind- 
ness of Providence a fair and brisk gale sprung up, which brought us safely 
into Scalpa Bay, about a mile from Kirkwall, by eight o'clock next morning. 
The merchants who freighted the boat, and the sailors in general, behaved to 
us with much kindness and respect. Preached in the boat on Friday evening. 
They listened with much attention, and frequently attended afterwards, during 
our stay at Kirkwall. 

"August 12. — Arrived at Kirkwall. Were providentially directed to a friend 
of the truth (Baillie Jamieson), who received us with much kindness. Intima- 
ted sermon by the bell at half-past six in the evening, in the Palace Close, 
where we (Mr. Aikman) preached to a congregation of about eight hundred 
persons. This is a square, formed by a large and ancient edifice on the south, 
supposed to have been the palace of some of the Norwegian kings, and on the 
north by another, termed the Bishop's palace. On the east is the church of St. 
Magnus, and on the west it is bounded by a wall. It is capable, probably, of 
containing ten or twelve thousand persons. Having heard that there had been 
only two or three sermons preached in the Island of Shappinshay (a few miles 
distant from Kirkwall), from the time of the last General Assembly, when their 
minister had left them, we resolved that one of us should spend the Lord's-day 
in that island, while the other remained in Kirkwall. The minister of Shappin- 
shay was at this time detained in Edinburgh, as an evidence in a trial; but it is 
well known to be the practice of ministers from that country, to take a consid- 
erable vacation at the time of the General Assembly. 

" Before proceeding further in the account of our labors, we shall here offer 
a few remarks on the former and present religious state of Orkney. The 
islands of Orkney, according to our information, which is rendered strongly 
credible by what we actually witnessed, have been, for a period beyond the 
memory of any man living (except in one or two solitary instances), as much 
in need of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, so far as respects the preaching of 
it, as any of the islands of the Pacific Ocean. Many of the parishes compre- 
hend two or three different islands. In each of these the minister should 
preach occasionally; but owing to the want of churches, or rather to the 
churches being in want of repair, as well as to the occasional trouble and diffi- 



ORKNEYS. 157 

culty of crossing the Friths which intersect these islands, to say nothing of the 
want of zeal, many of the people see their pastor but seldom in the course of 
the year. It is a fact, that in some cases where there are two islands in a par- 
ish, or two parishes annexed in one island, and a church in repair only in one 
of them, the minister preaches in it on one Sabbath, but the next, when it falls 
to the turn of the other island or parish, he neither preaches there, nor in his 
other church, though it may adjoin his manse. 

" It can occasion no surprise to those who know the Gospel and are acquainted 
with that enmity and opposition which the human mind naturally bears to its 
humiliating doctrines, to learn that the sermons of such pastors do not contain 
glad tidings to perishing sinners. At the same time, one would think that the 
most inconsiderate could scarcely fail to be struck with the strange inconsis- 
tency of teaching others that they will be saved by a diligent discharge of the 
duties of their station, while they themselves so openly neglect their own. 
The manners and conduct of the people, as in every other place, are corrupted 
in a due proportion to their ignorance of the Gospel, and to no part, in Orkney, 
as we learn, did this remark more justly apply, than it did about five or six 
years ago to Kirkwall, where, excepting two or three individuals, the great body 
of the people were utter strangers to the doctrine of justification by faith in 
the death and resurrection of Christ without works. It pleased God, however, 
in the riches of his grace, to look down with tender compassion upon the de- 
plorable situation of this place, and to send them help out of his holy heaven. 
A native of Orkney, who had been apprentice to a pious tradesman in Kirkwall, 
went to Newcastle, where he attended with profit the ministry of Mr. Graham, 
the Anti-burgher. He returned to Kirkwall, and having experienced the benefit 
of religious society in the south, upon finding another person of views similar 
to his own, he proposed a weekly meeting for prayer and religious fellowship. 
This was immediately formed. One and another, whose minds it pleased God, 
by means of conversation or reading books, which were put into their hands, to 
bring under impressions of the infinite worth of their immortal souls, were 
added to their little meeting. Their numbers continued from time to time to 
increase. These persons now began seriously to feel their state of bondage, 
with regard to religious privileges. They found it was a yoke which they were 
not able to bear, and therefore determined, looking up to God for his counte- 
nance, to open a subscription for erecting a place of worship, where they might 
enjoy the blessing of the preaching of the Gospel. Their means were indeed 
but very slender, and appeared little likely to accomplish the end, especially in 
the view of that opposition, with which they knew they must contend. But 
he, whose glory it is to choose the weak things of this world to confound the 
mighty, appeared most eminently in their behalf, and they were enabled both to 
begin and to finish a house for the worship of God. They then applied to the 
Anti-burgher Synod for a minister to preach to them. A minister was accord- 
ingly sent, and others successively since that time, all of whose labors appear 
to have been remarkably blessed. Many who were living altogether careless 
of Divine things, since the Gospel was preached in the new church, as it is 
called, have been brought under serious concern, and give good evidence, by 
their conduct, that they are passed from death unto life, and some who were 
avowed enemies have become the friends of the cause. The Lord appears evi- 



158 FIRST TOUE TO THE XOETH. 

dently to have been preparing a people in this place for himself: and it is re- 
marked, that since the time that this uncommon concern has been excited, a very 
considerable external reformation has taken place, even amongst those who do 
not appear to be under the influence of the truth. That the Lord's arm hath 
been made bare in behalf of these destitute isles in no common way, will 
appear from the fact, that two hundred persons were admitted to the Lord's 
Supper, upon the first celebration of that ordinance in the new church, in July 
last, after a strict and individual examination, in which the ministers enjoyed, as 
we are informed, much satisfaction. Several also were kept back, of whom 
good hopes are entertained. When the circumstance just stated is contrasted 
with the situation of Kirkwall but four or five years since, the friends of Christ 
may well exclaim with joy and gratitude, 'What hath God wrought!' 'The 
wilderness hath truly rejoiced; it hath blossomed as the rose. The Lord's 
hand is not yet shortened that it cannot save, neither is his ear heavy that it 
cannot hear.' " 

On the next Lord's- day, Mr. Aiknian preached twice, to con- 
gregations of twelve hundred and three thousand persons, whilst 
Mr. J. Haldane, who was always the first to undertake the more 
laborious duties, for which his physical health and energy better 
fitted him, crossed over to Shappinshay, in a boat sent for the 
purpose by the people, and preached twice by the sea-side, to 
congregations comprising the greater part of the population of 
the island. But this visit was rendered memorable by the con- 
version of an old man, of ninety-two, who had been born in the 
reign of Queen Anne, and was now confined to bed. Mr. J. Hal- 
dane visited him after sermon, and found him hardly able to 
speak, although quite sensible. In the Journal he says, ''Asked 
him what was to become of him after death? He replied, he 
was very ignorant, could not read, but had sometimes prayed to 
God. On being asked whether he knew anything of Christ, he 
acknowledged his entire ignorance." The old man stated, that 
he remembered how, when a lad, herding cattle, under a sense of 
darkness as to his future state, he once prayed to God that some 
teacher might be sent to enlighten his ignorance. This prayer 
seems to have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and, 
after being treasured up for nearly eighty years, was answered 
almost at the last hour of parting life. Mr. James Haldane came 
to the old man as the messenger of peace, and preached to him 
the Gospel, declaring that now the Lord was waiting to be gra- 
cious, and that if he believed what the word of God testified of 
his guilt and misery, and of the person and work of Christ as 
that of an Almighty Saviour, he should be saved. He "seemed 
much affected, and grasped the speaker eagerly by the hand. He 



ORKNEYS — OLD MAX OF XIXETY-TWO. 159 

cried to God for the pardon of his sins ; and being informed that 
his prayers could only be heard, through Jesus Christ, who came 
to save the very chief of sinners, he called upon the Saviour for 
mere}-, and repeatedly exclaimed, 1 believe, I believe. This recalled 
strongly to our mind the case of the blind man, who, as soon as 
he knew the Son of God. worshipped him." 

The same evening Mr. Haldane returned to Kirkwall, but did 
not fail, as we shall presently see, once more to visit Shappiushay, 
and the dying old man. It was a case to which he often referred 
in after-life, and it was obviously near to his heart at the time, as 
appears from his correspondence, and particularly from the fol- 
lowing letter to Mr. Campbell : — 

"Kirkwall, August 14th, 1797. 
" My Dear Friend. — You did not expect to hear from me from this place 
when I left you, but the Lord does all things well. I have written to Mrs. Hal- 
dane to-day. You will hear from her some account of us since we came here. 
If, as there is reason to hope, our coming has been useful to the old man, there 
was a needs be for our coming. We intend to stay till Monday. There is a 
great fair here, which begins to-morrow. We intend to preach twice a-day, 
and visit some of the neighboring islands. We go to-morrow to Stromness, 
which is the next largest town on this island, to preach, and visit Mr. and Mrs. 
Hamilton, with whom we intend to stay all night. I was much obliged to you 
for your letter. It increases my respect for Mr. Newton, that he should find so 
little difficulty in resolving the knotty point (as to lay preaching). If the Lord 
spares me to return. I shall write to him. We have left Rate at Inverness. I 
hope he may be the means of doing good there. The Lord has, I am persuaded, 
much people in that place. We received a supply of pamphlets there, which 
we needed, as we were quite run out. You was afraid we had too many, but 
this is not the case. I must request you to desire Mr. Ritchie to throw oft' two 
thousand more of my ' Address' immediately, and to forward one thousand of 
them to me at Aberdeen, first ship, together with all the other pamphlets he has 
belonging to me."' 

The letter here breaks off, and Mr. Aikman takes up his pen, 
and proceeds — 

" Our dear friend having written thus far, was obliged to begin to prepare for 
preaching. He therefore handed me over the paper, that I might tell you a 
little of the goodness of the Lord, in his late dispensations towards us in this 
place, and in bringing us to it. Truly this has been the work of God, and not 
of man. We were led to think of coming here by hearing that a multitude of 
" idle vagrants," or busy vagrants rather, assembled here at these times, and that 
an easy opportunity was afforded us by the boats from Elgin. . . . Yester- 
day, being Lord's-day, Mr. Haldane went to a neighboring and desolate island, 
and preached two long sermons, and afterwards visited an old man of ninety- 
two, who knew nothing of Jesus, but appeared wonderfully affected. The Lord 



160 FIRST TOUR TO THE NORTH. 

grant that the issue may be to the praise of his grace. I heard a shocking ser- 
mon in the Established Church in the forenoon, after preaching to about one 
thousand five hundred people, and was strengthened of God to bear an open 
and explicit testimony against it, from Pilate's question, John xiii. 38, before 
three thousand persons, I suppose. I told them that I accounted it an unspeak- 
able happiness to have stood upon that place, and to have declared that there 
was no other name given under heaven, by which men could be saved, but the 
name of Christ. . . . Blessed be God, things are much changed (at Kirkwall) 
since the ministers of the secession were sent hither, and of this I hope we shall 
be able to bring you such accounts as shall fill the hearts of our brethren with 
gratitude to Him, who gave his life for the sheep, and who will call the hire- 
lings to a strict account. The people in this, as in other places, receive us with 
much affection. Our love to all our dear brethren. Remember us affectionate- 
ly to Mr. and Mrs. Black, and to our friend, Mr. Balfour. 

" We are just going to preach ; a great multitude is assembled. Our dear 
friend, Mr. H., officiates. Remember us on Friday (at Mr. Black's prayer- 
meeting). 

" Ever yours affectionately, 

"John Aikman." 

Mr. Haldane adds a postscript to what he calls "the Company 
Letter." He says, — 

" Thus far the Company letter. I preached to a large congregation, who were 
much affected. Truly the concern among people here is wonderful. Cease 
not to pray for us, and praise the Lord for his goodness. 

" Yours truly, 

"J. A. H." 

On the 15th August they proceeded to Stromness, where the 
minister, Mr. Hamilton, and his wife, the sister of Mr. Zachary 
Macaulay, received them courteously. After preaching they re- 
turned to Kirkwall, where, the fair having begun, multitudes both 
from the islands and mainland were assembled. There, whilst 
the fair continued, their sermons from day to day were an object 
of attraction, and were frequented by congregations amounting to 
3,000 and 4,000, and, on the Lord's-day, even to upwards of 6,000 
persons. 

" We have here," says Mr. J. Haldane, " much reason to remark the goodness 
of God in disposing the people, the whole time the fair lasted, to continue with 
regularity in their attendance. The fair was, in a measure, emptied every eve- 
ning. May He, whose blessing alone giveth the increase, be pleased gracious- 
ly to water the seed which hath been sown with the dew of heaven, causing it 
to take root downward, and to bring forth fruit upward, to the praise of the 
glory of his own rich and sovereign grace !" 

But amidst the excitement incident to preaching to thousands 



ORKNEYS. 161 

who hung upon the lips of the preachei, many of whom drank in 
the words of eternal life, the poor, solitary, dying nonogenarian 
at Shappinshay was not forgotten. Once more Mr. J. H. visited 
him, but found him unable to speak, although still sensible and 
capable of expressing intense pleasure in once more seeing his in- 
structor. He was supported in his bed whilst Mr. J. Haldane 
spoke, and showed that he understood what was said, by his clasp- 
ing his withered hands, and raising them to heaven as if in the 
attitude of thanksgiving. Upon asking him whether he wished 
that prayer should be made, he showed his desire, as far as possi- 
ble, by attempting to speak. " His wife said that he had wept 
much after our leaving him on the former day. She had occa- 
sionally read to him parts of the Scriptures." He died on the 
next Lord's-day, and the joy with which he received the Gospel, 
the earnest delight with which he welcomed the second visit of 
his spiritual teacher, and the devout peace in which he departed, 
left no room to doubt that he slept in Jesus. 

Rendal and Eva, forming one parish, were next visited. It was 
found that in the latter island there had been no sermon for eight 
or nine years, and that at Rendal there was no Church service ex- 
cept on alternate Sabbaths. Eggleshay and Rousay were in a 
situation as to spiritual things, nearly as destitute, although the 
proprietor, when at home, was accustomed to read a sermon to 
the people in church. Kirkwall continued to be the head-quar- 
ters of the preachers until the 23d, when they separated, Mr. Hal- 
dane taking the cluster of islands to the right, and Mr. Aikman 
the cluster of islands to the left. Mr. Haldane embarking for 
Eday, was obliged, by the force of the tide, to land at Shappin- 
shay, where, during the two hours he was detained, he went into 
a house and expounded the Scriptures and prayed. After preach- 
ing at Eday, and visiting some sick persons, he crossed the Frith 
to Sanday, where he had some difficulty in procuring any lodg- 
ing, but preached next day morning and evening to 750 persons, 
at two opposite sides of the island. At North Eonaldshay he 
found that there was no school, and that there had only been a 
sermon five times since the year before. He sent to the proprietor 
a proposal to erect one at his own expense, provided a site and 
grass for a cow should be supplied. This disinterested proposal 
was, however, ultimately declined. At Stronsay, whose mineral 
waters made it a place of resort in ancient times for the Danish 
chiefs, he met with a man who appeared to be a true Christian. 

11 



162 FIEST TO HE TO THE N"ORTH. 

" Thus," lie observes, " one and another of the sheep of Christ are 
occasionally found in places where they are least expected," After 
preaching to 800 people, or about three fourths of the whole popu- 
lation, he took a boat for Shappinshay, and having walked across 
that island and taken another boat, he arrived before midnight on 
Saturday at Kirkwall. Next day, being Sunday 7 he preached io 
the Palace-close to 2,500 people, and on the Monday again preach- 
ed at Kirkwall, and at Deerness and Tankerness, to large congre- 
gations. These services were exclusive of family prayer, with an 
exposition of Scripture, which was daily attended by as many as 
their room could hold whilst residing at Kirkwall. 

After a stay of sixteen days they left Kirkwall on the 29th 
August, and having preached on that day and the following at 
different islands, they crossed the Pentland Frith in about two 
hours, being favored with moderate weather. They had preach- 
ed no less than fifty -five times in ten days, so that each must have 
preached nearly three times every day. Mr. J. Haldane adds : — 

- 4 Mt heeomes us here to remark the goodness of God to us, "both in crossing 
the different Friths, and during the whole of our stay in Kirkwall, having never 
once been incommoded, while preaching, with rain, although sometimes the 
clouds had a lowering aspect. Walked two miles from the place of landing to 
Hoonah, to the great inconvenience of one of us (Mr. Aikman), who bruised 
his leg in coming from Eggleshay, a circumstance which, though apparently 
trivaal at first, yet afterwards materially altered the plan of our journey, detain- 
ing us six weeks & the county of Caithness, instead of a fortnight, as we had 
at jjrs£ intended.'" 

3IR. J. KALDANE'-S LABORS IN CAITHNESS, AND THE BLESSING WHICH 
FOLLOWED THEM. 

The number of inhabited islands in Orkney is now twenty -nine. 
The missionary tourists had preached in nearly all of them ex- 
cepting WaUs and Flota, which Mr. James Haldane took occasion 
to vkit during his detention at Thurso. The detention which 
arose from Mr. Aikman's accident was providentially overruled 
for good, and probably there was no period' of his life more dis- 
tinguished by unmistakable marks of the Lord's favor than the 
six weeks during which Mr. J. Haldane labored in Caithness. 
In consequence of his excellent companion's confinement to the 
house, he was, hi the public ministrations in Caithness, the sole 
laborer; and if any one desire to estimate the force of his zeal, 
and the ardor of his desire to speak for Christ, let his labors in 
•Caithness at this time be regarded. The state of religion in that 



CAITHNESS. 163 

coanty was then most deplorable. The town of Thurso, contain- 
ing between 2,000 and 3,000 inhabitants, had not been catechized 
for forty years, a circumstance which then implied great neglect, 
and "in all the shire of Caithness, consisting of ten parishes, 7 ' 
there was scarcely an instance of the Gospel being faithfully 
preached. At Thurso, a pious Anti-burgher minister labored 
with some good results, and there were a few of those belonging 
to the Established Church who attended the Secession place of 
worship, without themselves joining its communion. But the 
good that was done by these Anti-burghers was on a very limited 
scale, and no effort was made to extend the Gospel beyond the 
bounds of their own chapels or the families of those by whom 
they were attended. 

"It is," says the Journal, "a mournful fact, that it was the universal practice 
lo commute for a sum of money the public profession of repentance enjoined 
by the Church of Scotland on those guilty of adultery or other open transgres- 
sions. When such persons have paid the fine, they are admitted to the com- 
munion-table without scruple. When such practices as these take place to any 
extent, no wonder if the land mourn, and that the Lord threaten to visit us with 
his sore judgments, ' Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord.' Nor 
can it at all surprise those who know the Gospel to learn, that while the name 
and ordinances of God are thus profaned, men should in general be living with- 
out God and without Christ, and, consequently, without any well-grounded 
hope in the world. It gives us much pleasure, however, to remark, that the 
Lord hath not wholly left himself without a witness, even in those places which 
are most desolate. It is said that in this shire, about fifty or sixty years ago, 
the whole of the ministers were faithful preachers of Christ. Their testimony 
has been transmitted, and the instructions and example of humble individuals 
have been blessed of God for keeping alive a spirit of real religion in some of 
the interior parts of the country. It is remarked that those persons are, in 
general, such as live at the greatest distance from the churches, and who, in 
consequence, meet together by themselves for the purposes of religious confer- 
ence and worship on the Lord's-day." 

Such was the state of Caithness at the time when Mr. James 
Haldane preached, on Thursday, the 31st August, 1797, his first 
sermon in the yard of the Anti-burgher Meeting-house to not 
more than 300 persons, " who seemed rather unconcerned." The 
town was crowded with strangers who had come up to the fair. 
The next day he preached twice in a large yard, in the open air, 
to congregations " which seemed more attentive." Next day the 
congregation had increased to 800 persons in the morning, and 
about 1,500 in the evening. On the Lord's-day morning atten- 
tion had become so much aroused, that before the usual church 



164 FIRST TOUE TO THE NORTH. 

hours, lie preached at half-past nine o'clock to 1,700 people, and, 
although it began to rain, " no person moved." He then went to 
church, where a melancholy sermon was delivered, in which the 
minister cautioned the people against trusting for acceptance with 
Grod to the blood of Christ. " His peace-speaking blood," says 
Mr. Halclane, " was only for the holy and the good !" But against 
this false doctrine he testified in the evening to no less than 3,000 
persons, assembled from places far and near, to whom he pro- 
claimed the true Grospel of the grace of God. During the follow- 
ing week-days he preached morning and evening each day at 
different places in the county. The Journal contains the following 
entry on the next Lord's-day : — 

" Lord's-day, September 10th. — Preached at ten o'clock to from 
2,000 to 3,000 people, many of whom had come from the country. 
Preached again at two o'clock, to upwards of 3,000 persons, from 
the Second Epistle of John, verses 10 and 11." 

Another letter to Mr. Campbell, dated 16th September, will 
give a short summary of his proceedings up to this date. 

"Thurso, Sept. 16th, 1797. 
" My Dear Friend, — This is Saturday night, and I am just returned from 
the Island of Walls, one of the Orkney Islands. It was the only one of any 
size we had not visited, and, being the nearest to this place, I thought it a duty 
to visit it, as we have been so long detained here by our dear brother's acci- 
dent. After preaching, I left this place on Wednesday morning, preached at 
Walls arid the Island of Flota on Thursday, returned at night to Walls, where 
I preached yesterday, and should have been here last night had not the wind 
been too strong. I desire to be thankful I am now arrived safe and may again 
set up my Ebenezer. I had this journey in contemplation when I wrote to 
Mrs. Haldane on Monday, but as I was n$ determined, and thought it might 
make her uneasy to hear, of my crossing the Pentland Frith again, I said noth- 
ing about it. Indeed, I did not fully determine to go till it was time on 
Wednesday to set off. We have now preached in fifteen of the Orkney Islands, 
and in all of them the people have seemed affected under the preaching of the 
Gospel. I this evening received a letter from my wife without a date, but it 
seems, by the post-mark, to be about the 10th of August. It is directed to 
Inverness, and was written before our journey to Orkney was known in Edin- 
burgh. Our dear brother's, Mr. Aikman's, leg is not yet quite well, and, as we 
do not intend to run any risk of hurting it by early travelling, I cannot fix the 
day on which we are to leave this. There is much need of the Gospel here. 
I have been strengthened to preach twice a day here since we came, except two 
or three days, during which I have been in the country parishes. When we 
came here we could find no room in the inn, but the Lord directed us to a pri- 
vate house; both our host and hostess (Mr. and Mrs. George Millar) are most 
attentive. May the Lord grant our visit may be useful to them for one thing 



CAITHNESS. 165 

they lack. Remember me kindly to Mr. Newton when you write to him. 
Remember us affectionately to our dear friends with you. I am sure you do 
not cease to pray for us. I have, I am persuaded, felt the benefit of your pray- 
ers, especially on Friday evening. Give our love to Mr. and Mrs. Black and 
Mr. Balfour. I am, my dear friend, 

" Yours, ever affectionately." 

Mr. George Millar, of Thurso, is again noticed in the Journal, 
with this prayer attached, — " May the Lord recompense their 
kindness by bestowing on them blessings which perish not with. 
the using." This prayer on behalf of their kind hosts was 
answered, and they too were brought to Christ, and found that, 
in entertaining strangers, they had " entertained angels una- 
wares." 

On the 17th September, being the Lord's-day, he preached in 
the morning to about 1,500 people, and afterwards heard the par- 
ish minister preach from Titus iii. 8. He seemed much afraid of 
people abusing the doctrines of grace, and therefore told them 
that, though they were to be justified freely by grace, yet that 
afterwards they must be justified partly by faith and partly by 
works. He then gave intimation that there would be no sermon 
in the afternoon during the remainder of the season. It is the 
regular practice, it seems, through this part of the country, as it 
is, indeed, in other places farther south, to have only one dis- 
course, of half an hour's length, in the day during nearly nine 
months of the year. 

On the evening of the same Lord's day Mr. Haldane preached 
to about 3,000 persons, from Eph. ii. 8-10: — "For by grace are 
ye saved, through faith ; and that not of yourselves : it is the gift 
of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast," &c. " Took 
particular notice of the sermon that had been preached." He 
then told them, that he had found it to be his duty, however 
unpleasant, to bear testimony against the doctrine which he had 
heard from their minister ; but that, though he might be de- 
tained another Sabbath in Thurso, he would not again attend 
their church. 

On the Lord's-day, September 24th, the weather being uncom- 
monly fine, Mr. J. H. preached in the yard to about 3,000 people 
in the morning. Mr. Aikman was still confined, but, as it ap- 
peared likely that he would be able to travel in the course of a 
few days, it was determined that his friend, on whom all the 
public labor had devolved, should spend the remainder of the 



166 FIEST TO UK TO THE NORTH. 

time they should remain in Caithness in visiting the town of Wick 
and its neighborhood. In the view, therefore, of leaving Thurso 
on the next day, Mr. J. Haldane preached in the evening a fare- 
well sermon to a congregation of 4,000 persons, of whom there 
were individuals from every parish in Caithness. It was a solemn 
occasion, and one calculated to stir the heart of the preacher. 
His text was from Acts xx. 32, — "And now, brethren, I com- 
mend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to 
build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them 
that are sanctified." 

" The parish minister was present, and as it was generally understood that 
he had in view the doctrines we preached, when cautioning the people against 
their being taught to separate faith from works, occasion was taken briefly to 
recapitulate the apostle's doctrine, and plainly to show the absolute necessity of 
completely separating faith from works in the important article of a sinner 's jus- 
tification before God. At the same time the speaker appealed to those who had 
heard him, whether he had not uniformly insisted on the absolute necessity of 
works, on the other hand, as the never-failing fruit and evidence of faith, with- 
out which the faith which any man might say he had would never save him. 
Took occasion also to refer particularly to the lives and conversations of many 
of those who were such strenuous advocates for the doctrine of works, and 
asked whether the total and open neglect, both of personal and family religion, 
afforded them any ground so greatly to glory in their pretended good works ? 
Finally, told them, that he was pure from their blood (referring to the discourse 
connected with his text), which could not have been had he not faithfully 
warned them against the false doctrines which he had heard preached to them." 

The sermon thus referred to was one of great power and ear- 
nest solemnity, which was long remembered in Caithness. 

Having preached on his way to Wick, he arrived there on the 
25th, and was most hospitably entertained by another, Mr. A. 
Miller, the chief inhabitant, to whom he was a messenger of grace, 
under circumstances of deep interest, which will presently be no- 
ticed. He preached during the week to large congregations, and 
on the market-day twice to 1,000 persons, morning and evening. 

" Lord's-day, October 1st. — Preached in the morning to about 2,500 people. 
Heard the minister, in the forenoon, preach from Matt. xxii. 5, — ' And they 
made light of it.' He represented that men, in becoming Christians, first began 
to work out their own salvation, and that when God wrought in them, &e. He 
spoke much of the criminality of such as found fault with ministers, ' who were,' 
he said, ' the successors of the apostles, — the ambassadors appointed to carry on 
the treaty of peace between God and man !' In the afternoon preached to about 
4,000 people, and took notice of what appeared contrary to the Gospel in the 
minister's sermon, himself being present." 



FRUITS OF THE MISSION". 167 

During the week days he continued as usual to preach at differ- 
ent places, sometimes once, and sometimes twice a day, in the 
country parishes, and again on the Lord's-day at Wick, to congre- 
gations who came in crowds from all quarters, amounting in the 
morning to more than 2,000, and in the evening to upwards of 
4,000 people. On the 5th October there is an entry where he no- 
tices having preached at Freswick, in the parish of Canisbay, 
where there was a small society of Baptists, who had been formed 
into a Church by means of a pious Baronet, a Sir William Sin- 
clair, who had preached amongst them for several years. 

Mr. Aikman being now partially recovered, was enabled to join 
Mr. Haldane, although still rather feeble and worn out by his la- 
bors. 

The results of this tour in Caithness will be again more particu- 
larly noticed, but perhaps it cannot at present be more fitly con- 
cluded than by the insertion of the following letter. It is writ- 
ten by the wife of an excellent minister at Elgin, a venerable lady, 
who was one of those to whom Mr. J. Haldane was then the mes 
senger of peace. She was the daughter of that Mr. A. Miller, of 
Staxigo, near Wick, whose hospitality he so gratefully acknowl- 
edged. Mrs. M 'Neil's letter was written shortly after Mr. Hal- 
dane's death, and is dated 20th March, 1851. It is addressed to 
the excellent surviving sister of Mr. Aikman, whose own recol- 
lections have furnished some valuable incidents for this and the 
preceding chapter : — 

" I now come to that part of your letter wherein you mention my dear and 
much loved and respected friend, Mr. James Haldane, — a name very dear to me. 
I have often thought that there was something of idolatry in my affection for 
that good man. If I have ever felt or known anything of the truth, he was the 
blessed instrument ; and not to myself only, but he was the instrument used 
by God for the conversion of my dear brother and sister, in his first visit to 
Caithness. Both the latter died of typhus fever, in the hope of a glorious im- 
mortality, a few months after his visit to Caithness. I had a married sister, who 
died of fever about two years previous to your dear brother (Mr. Aikman's) 
and dear Mr. Haldane's visit to Caithness. At the time of her being seized 
with illness, I was young, thoughtless, and lively. 

" The fever being deemed infectious, the doctor persuaded my parents not 
to allow either of my sisters or myself to see her. However, early in the 
morning on which she died, my eldest sister and myself were sent for to see 
her before her death. She had early in life been made a partaker of Divine 
grace, and was a most affectionate sister. We lived in the country. She lived 
in the town of Wick. Her husband brought us into the room where she lay ; 
she was then in the agonies of death. I had never seen one in that state 



168 FIRST TOUR TO THE NORTH. 

before, and being much attached to her, it made a very deep impression upon 
my mind, and I became much concerned about my soul. My health gave way, 
and I was wasted to a shadow. I concealed from every person the state of my 
mind, and always sought retirement, but did not know where to flee for deliv- 
erance from the guilt of sin. I had relations who lived within a few miles of 
Thurso. They wished me very much to visit them, in the hope the change 
might be useful to me, and my parents and their friends were equally anxious 
for this. But it was health to my soul which I needed and longed for. How- 
ever, as they wished it, I went. Some days after I went there, my aunt had 
gone into Thurso, and when she returned, she said the town seemed in an 
uproar, or something to that effect, 'about a remarkable preacher who had 
come there, and that he seemed very zealous, and was preaching in the open 
air.' I immediately set off, accompanied by one of my cousins. It was on a 
Saturday evening. I went with my cousin to the place. He was standing on 
the top of an outer stair, dressed in a gray coat, with tied hair, and powdered. 
But I think I shall never forget the fervor and divine unction with which he 
proclaimed the Gospel of mercy. It rained very heavily, and although very 
wet and miry where the congregation stood, no one, I think, moved to go away 
until sermon was over. I felt very unwell, but was rivetted to the place, and 
sorry I was when he finished his subject. 

" On Sabbath, I went in the forenoon to the parish church. The minister's 
text was 4th and 5th verses of the sixth chapter of Galatians. In the evening 
Mr. Haldane preached in a yard, where it was thought there were 4,000 people 
assembled. He took occasion to show the fallacy of the doctrine preached in 
the forenoon. I was standing beside a number of the genteel people, but not 
religious people. Some of the gentlemen called out, 'Stone him!' others, 
' Stop him !' However, no person obeyed their commands, and Mr. Haldane 
went on with his subject. At last these gentry all left the place, and I was 
very glad to be rid of them. This minister, of whose erroneous teaching Mr. 
Haldane had said so much, was a particular friend of my dear father. My mind 
was in distress lest my father should take any dislike to Mr. Haldane; and that 
if Mr. Haldane should go to Wick, I might not have the liberty to hear him. 
I next day wrote to my sister, giving an account of the whole matter, and said 
all I could in Mr. Haldane's favor. Your dear brother (Mr. Aikman) had hurt 
his leg in coming out of a boat. This confined him to his lodgings, in Mr. 
George Miller's house, for several weeks, so that I did not see him in Thurso. 
Owing to your brother being confined so long, they determined that Mr. Hal- 
dane should come to Wick until Mr. Aikman should get better. It seems they 
had previously no intention of stopping at Wick, but the Lord had purposes 
of mercy for some there. When Mr. James Haldane. arrived, an express was 
sent to my father to let him know. When I heard this information given, my 
heart trembled between fear and joy. I was afraid my father would not allow 
my sisters and myself to go to hear him, because he had said so much about 
his favorite minister; and I was just saying to my eldest sister that I feared 
we would not be allowed, when my father came into my room, and said, ' Make 
yourselves ready to go and hear Mr. Haldane, and your mother and myself will 
also go.' I could not describe my joy. We went, and the people were assem- 
bling. It was in a large yard. Mr. Haldane, after singing and prayer, gave 



FKUITS OF THE MISSION. 169 

out the 7th verse of the first chapter of Haggai, — ' Thus saith the Lord of 
hosts, Consider your ways.' My father heard with deep attention. As for my- 
self, I was completely rivetted; my eyes could see nothing but Mr. Haldane, 
and my ears hear no sound but his voice. Well, that was the text and sermon 
which the Lord blessed for the conversion of my dear father. After sermon, 
my father said to my sister and me, ' Go in to Mr. Craig's, and give your mo- 
ther's compliments and my own, and ask Mr. Haldane if he will kindly come 
out to Staxigo with you.' (Mr. Craig was my brother-in-law.) My joy was 
great, and I thought, surely the Lord has heard my prayers. Mr. Haldane very 
kindly consented at once, and he came, and for two weeks, if not more, he 
remained in my father's house, — indeed, as long as he was in the place, except 
when he went into the town to preach, which he did every day, and we always 
walked in and out again with him. My eldest sister then alive, and my young- 
est brother, were both at that time also brought to Christ, so that there were 
four of us who I trust were all brought out of darkness into God's marvellous 
light. Could I but love that worthy man? He threw his whole soul into his 
subject, and commended the truth to every one's conscience, as in the sight of 
God. Your brother only came to Wick the day before they left the country, 
so that I only saw and heard him once at that time. Both of them, with Mr. 
Innes, came round again in 1799; but whenever they came, my father's house 
was head quarters with the whole of them. 

" I recollect the last sermon Mr. Haldane preached in our chapel in Wick 
(some years afterwards, in 1805, on his fourth tour to Caithness) was on these 
words, — ' Finally, brethren, farewell.' I thought, shall this be the last sermon 
he shall preach here ? and I felt my spirits sink within me. 

" This was indeed the last. The last night he was in our house he read the 
4th of Philippians, and made some remarks. He wrote me several letters, one 
of which I now inclose, and a very short one, mentioning that he had sent mo 
some books for my Sabbath-schools. 

" I may add, that I believe there was not a district in Scotland where their 
labors were so much blessed as in Caithness. In Orkney, too, the Lord made 
them very useful. But the good done by those godly men was remarkable. 
Under God, they were the means of bringing the Gospel to Wick and Thurso. 

" When Mr. Haldane came first to Wick in the year '97, it was in the harvest 
time, in the month of October. One gentleman, at that time a very careless 
man, gave liberty to the shearers to leave the field and go to hear Mr. Haldane, 
which they did, and reaped the field by moonlight. This I believe was only 
once. But from that time he paid more attention to religion, and, I believe, 
under Mr. Cleghorn's ministry, was savingly converted to the truth. Often did 
my dear brother Benjamin say to me upon his death-bed, that he blessed God 
he had ever known and heard dear Mr. Haldane. He died in February, '98, and 
my sister about three weeks after. My sister was twenty-four years of age, 
and my dear brother eighteen years. They were lovely and pleasant in their 
lives, and in death were not long divided. Both were beautiful and handsome, 
and both, if there were any favorites, were the favorites with my father, and 
were loved by all who knew them. I, too, was lying ill, and despaired of at 
the time. You may believe what a trial this was to our parents, but God won 
derfully supported them. 



J /O FIRST TOUR TO THE NORTH. 

" The deep distress of mind I was in when I first heard Mr. Haldane I could 
aot describe; and when the Gospel was revealed to me in all its glory, my joy 
was great, so much so that I was sometimes so overcome with it, I thought 1 
could contain no more. Often do I wish I now felt the same brokenness of 
heart, and the same lively hope which I had in the days of my youth. Often, 
when these good men were in Caithness, many would walk twenty miles to 
hear them, and return home in the evening. 

" Worthy Dr. Innes has lived to see all those who then were fellow-helpers 
with him consigned to the house appointed for all living, while their emanci- 
pated spirits are now rejoicing before the throne of God. I trust he may be 
spared a long while yet, to labor for the good of souls. May he yet have many 
given him for his joy and crown ! Mr. Campbell was only once in Caithness. 
He, too, was an excellent minister. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. 
May it be our happiness, my dear friend, to meet those holy men of God at His 
right hand, when we go hence and are no more ! 

" My letter is not fit for any eye but that of a friend ; but though I write 
confusedly, perhaps Mr. Haldane may find some interesting things in it, to show 
how his worthy father was esteemed, and the good he was the means of doing 
in Caithness. 

"All my blunders I hope he will kindly overlook. At my advanced age, on 
the borders of seventy-five, I cannot expect to be very free from blunders in 
my way of stating what I have, but I can vouch for all as facts which I have 
written." 

Mr. James Haldane left Wick on the 11th of October, 1797, 
thus concluding his labors in Caithness, on a day memorable as 
that on which the great naval victory was gained off Camper- 
down. On that day he had preached twice, probably little think- 
ing of the very different scenes, amidst which his gallant relative 
was engaged ; although private memoranda, never intended for 
any other eye but his own, show how much that relative was 
habitually in his heart, and in his prayers before the throne of 
grace. He did not know of the victory for some time, although 
the booming of the guns was actually heard on that coast. On 
arriving at one of the towns, the public rejoicing announced the 
event. The place was in a great bustle, and the itinerants were 
shown into an inferior room. Having addressed a letter to his 
uncle, he desired the waiter to convey it to the post-office. The 
direction struck the man, and the letter was carried to the land- 
lord, who, in a few minutes, entered, and apologizing for the mis ■ 
take, begged the gentlemen to follow him to another room, as he 
was resolved that any friend of the Admiral's should have the 
best accommodation his house could supply. 

It may now be hardly worth while to notice that amidst the 
many jibes and sneers to which, as a matter of course, both the 



BATTLE OF CAMPEKDOWN. 171 

brothers were subjected, and which they bore with much good- 
humor, there was one relating to Lord Duncan's victory. It was 
reported that, instead of congratulating their uncle, they had both 
written to him a kind of expostulatory sermon on the horrors of 
war, and, instead of rejoicing in his success, had spoken of laurels 
stained with blood, and watered with tears. It is almost needless 
to state, that such ridiculous inventions could only receive cre- 
dence amongst those who knew nothing of the Haldanes, or who, 
in their ignorance, imagined that too much religion had made 
them mad. So far from there being any foundation for the story, 
their letters of congratulation both to the Admiral and Lady 
Duncan, expressed their genuine feelings of thankfulness to the 
God of battles, who had enabled their gallant relative to triumph 
in the defence of his country, and by the destruction of the Dutch 
fleet to be an instrument in the hands of the Almighty, for saving 
the nation from the invading expedition with which Ireland was 
threatened. 

In particular, Lord Duncan himself declared, that of all his let- 
ters of congratulation, none had gratified him more than that of 
his nephew, Robert Haldane. Mr. Haldane, in his letter, had not 
merely indulged in general topics, but, with the critical eye of a 
sailor, who had been enthusiastically attached to the navy, and 
wli" possessed a mind equally penetrating and acute, entered on a 
review of the whole affair. He noticed the inferior and undisci- 
plined state of a great part of the North Sea fleet, some of the 
ships being old Indiamen and undermanned, as well as the bold- 
ness of the manoeuvre in braving the dangers of a lee shore, 
breaking through the enemy's line, and cutting off his retreat ; 
and, above all, considering the superiority of the Dutch, as sailors, 
over the French and Spaniards, he gave the battle of Camper- 
down the preference over all the previous great naval actions. 
The imperfect results of the battles of the 1st of June, 1794, 
23d of June, and 13th of July, 1795, were afterwards noticed by 
Lord Exmouth, whose remarks corroborated Mr. Haldane's opin- 
ion, that, taking into account the difficulties of the position, and 
the energy with which the Admiral dashed at the hostile fleet, 
the completeness of the victory, and the numbers as well as the 
skill of the Dutch, when compared with the Spaniards or even 
the French, with whom Rodney, Howe, and St. Vincent himself 
had been engaged, Camperdown was the greatest of all the naval 



172 CONCLUSION OF THE TOUR. 

victories up to that period of the war.* When Lord Duncan re- 
turned home, no one conversed with him more fully and famil- 
iarly, or with greater interest, than his nephews, on the details of 
the action, or of his proceedings during the previous more appal- 
ling Mutiny at the Nore, which Mr. Pitt always considered to be 
the brightest part of the Admiral's conduct, and, on account of 
which, a patent of nobility, as an Irish peer, was in preparation 
even before the victory of Camperdown. Mr. Pitt's sentiment 
was repeated in the speech of the Lord Chancellor, expressing the 
thanks of the House of Lords, and announcing that this was one 
reason why the "unprecedented honor," of summoning all the 
peers, had been adopted on that occasion. 

CONCLUSION OF THE TOUR. 

Mr. J. Haldane, once more accompanied by Mr. Aikman, hav- 
ing taken leave of Caithness, entered Sutherland, and came to 
Dornoch, the county town, where they heard a melancholy ac- 
count of the state of religion. But whilst the people were with- 
out the blessing of a preached Gospel, it was comforting to hear 
of the good done at "prayer-meetings," instituted about the time 
of the Eevolution of 1688. 

" Their origin is not very well known, but they began at a time when much 
of the power of godliness was experienced. They generally met at first in the 
minister's house, or in some private house in the parish. The parochial fellow- 
ship meetings are now all so numerous, that they meet in churches. The min- 
ister acts as moderator. He begins with singing, and then prays. In many 
places, especially if the meeting be thin, he reads a portion of Scripture, and ex- 
plains it. He then asks if any person has a question, or a case of conscience, 
to propose for the consideration of those who are to speak at the meeting. A 
passage of Scripture is then mentioned, and a question proposed from it, rela- 
tive to experimental religion, by some person present. The moderator eluci- 
dates the passage, and states the question as intelligibly as possible. The 
speakers then deliver their sentiments with an earnestness suited to the impor- 
tance of the subject, and the moderator collects their different ideas, corrects 
anything that may be improperly stated, and gives his own opinion. The man 
who proposes the question never speaks to it. In "many places there is a prayer 

* Admiral Sir Charles Ekins, in his able Critical Dissertation on all the Naval 
Battles, has this remark. In the action off Camperdown " Eleven ships of war were 
captured by ten ships of the British squadron ; as not more than that number were 
seriously engaged. More was accomplished in proportion to the means, than in any 
naval engagement of modern times." Sir Charles Ekins adds, " Nelson, although 
not acquainted with Lord Duncan, after the Battle of the Nile wrote to tell him 
how he had profited by his example."— Elans' Battles, 4to., pp. 234, 235. 



PRAYER-MEETINGS IN SUTHERLANDSHIRE. 173 

offered up about the middle of the service. One of the speakers prays after the 
service is over, and a psalm is sung. Occasions of this nature are highly and 
deservedly valued by the people. In many places, we understand they are the 
chief means of maintaining and carrying forward the work of Christ. It is 
here also worthy of particular remark, that until within these few years that 
some ministers have discountenanced them, it was the practice of a great part 
of the north country to hold public fellowship meetings on the Friday previous 
to the administration of the Lord's Supper. Experienced Christians here dis- 
coursed freely of the manner of the Lord's dealing with them, and we are en- 
abled often to speak much to the comfort and edification of their weaker breth- 
ren." 

The above extract is inserted the rather, because it indicates 
that, even before the Haldanes, or Mr. Aikman and Mr. Ewing, 
had left the Church of Scotland, the old Scottish "Fellowship 
meetings" had found much favor in their eyes. It will also show 
the origin of certain of the plans of social worship, which after- 
wards produced so much excitement amongst the Scotch Congre- 
gationalists. 

Having left Dornoch, where the Gaelic was so generally spoken, 
that the people did not understand English, they came to Tain, 
where they found the people " highly favored, being blessed with 
a zealous and faithful minister of the Established Church, who is 
the fifth of that character, in immediate succession." After 
preaching at Tain, Milton, Invergordon, and Drummond, they ar- 
rived at Dingwall, where they preached, both in the street and in 
the Town-hall, and then crossed the Ferry, " and by the Lord's 
good hand upon us, arrived in safety at Inverness, in the after- 
noon of the 18th October, where we had the happiness to meet, in 
good health, the brother (Mr. Eate) whom we had left. And here 
we joined in setting up an Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto God hath 
helped." Mr. Eate had been most usefully employed, during 
their separation, in preaching in the neighborhood. In the fol- 
lowing year he was again engaged in itinerating in the county of 
Fife, and ultimately became the minister of a Scotch Presbyte- 
rian congregation at Alnwick, where he labored in the Gospel till 
his death, in 1844. He married a daughter of Mr. Mackintosh, 
of Eagmore, near Inverness, and the sister of Lachlan Macintosh, 
Esquire, of Montague-square, London, long known as an eminent 
East India merchant, who has devoted his influence to the best 
objects. 

With reference to the state of religion in Inverness, in 1797, 
the following paragraph in the Journal is interesting : — 



174: COHCLFSION OF the tour. 

" We are informed, that the power of religion greatly prevailed in this town 
and country round for several generations. The celebrated Mr. Bruce, who 
was in exile here about a hundred and fifty years ago, and who was a faithful 
and zealous preacher of the Gospel, was instrumental in leading multitudes of 
perishing sinners to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. 

" At that period, the North Highlands of Scotland were in a state of greater 
barbarity than some of the more civilized parts of Africa are at this day. By 
the blessing of God, however, on the labors of that good man, and many able 
and faithful successors, the wilderness was made to rejoice, and to blossom as 
the rose. But, alas ! ' how is the gold become dim, and the most fine gold 
changed!' The present generation, having in general had a religious education 
retain their opinions, but have forsaken the practice of their fathers. It is 
hoped, however, that this knowledge may yet serve to promote the revival of 
real religion in this place, if it shall please God to send zealous ministers among 
them, of which many of the people are truly desirous. It is remarkable to ob- 
serve the number which flock to hear any of the neighboring Gospel ministers, 
of whom there are several, when they come to this place or its neighborhood. 
It is not at all uncommon on such occasions to see three or four thousand peo- 
ple assemble in the open air to hear the word of life. This serves to account 
for what appears, at first view, rather surprising, namely, that a number of 
young persons are prospering in religion, in circumstances so very disadvanta- 
geous. There is no parochial visitation or examination performed by the clergy 
of this town ; but the parish are in the habit of paying a catechist, a godly 
man, who visits from house to house, and examines the servants and lower 
classes of people on the Sabbath evenings in summer. There are some pra) T - 
ing societies here, which meet weekly, and their members in general travel ten 
or twelve miles to hear the Gospel. There is an Episcopal meeting here, over 
which a bishop presides, but religion is much in the same state amongst them 
as in the rest of the Scotch Episcopal meetings. There is also a meeting of 
Methodists, and a small one of Antiburgher Seceders." 

The itinerants arrived at Huntly on the 26th of October, hav- 
ing preached at Auldearn, Forres, Elgin, Fochaber, and Keith, 
and met with a most affectionate reception from Mr. Cowie. 

On Lord's day, 29th October, they preached five times at Aber- 
deen, and on the Monday proceeded by Stonehaven to Montrose, 
where they found Sabbath-schools established in the interval 
since their first visit, and that the Burgher minister had himself 
begun to itinerate his neighborhood. At Brechin, after preach 
ing, a minister of the Established Church, before unknown, came 
up to them and wished them God speed. From Forfar they went 
to Glamis, where they preached to a comparatively small, but 
very attentive audience. At Kerry muir and Cupar Angus they 
had overflowing congregations, and on Monday, the 6th of No- 
vember, arrived and preached at Perth, and on the following day 



ARRIVAL AT AIRTHREY. 175 

at Auchterarder, near Gleneagles, whence they drove on to 
Airthrey, where the tour ended. 

Mr. James Haldane, upon whom the labor had chiefly fallen 
during this long and memorable tour, began now to find that 
even his physical energies were unequal to his zeal. Of his voice, 
Mr. Rate said, that he had known one louder, but never one that 
combined such strength and compass ; but powerful as it was, it 
had been over-labored. In chapels, in town-halls, and covered 
places, or in the open air, at market-crosses, by the sea-shore, or 
by the river's side, he had preached to crowded audiences, and 
even when addressing multitudes, sometimes estimated at 6.000 
and upwards, he had commanded silence and been heard with 
attention. He thus closes his narrative : — ''Preached (at Auchter- 
arder) in the school-house to about 800 persons, and then came 
forward to a friend's house in the neighborhood of Stirling, one 
of us being much indisposed by a sore throat, in consequence of 
the fatigue of much speaking. The condescension and goodness 
of God were also strikingly displayed in this, that though he had 
had frequent attacks of this complaint in the course of the journey, 
he had never been once disabled by its violence from preaching 
till he had fully completed the circuit. "' 

In closing the Journal, Mr. James Haldane submits some strik- 
ing observations to the consideration of those who love the Lord 
Jesus Christ in sincerity, with the view of exciting them to greater 
zeal for Home Missions. He describes the people, with the Scrip- 
tures in their hands, as perishing for lack of knowledge, as taught 
to put their trust in refuges of lies, which the hail shall sweep 
away in the day of God's wrath. "Surely," he exclaims, "their 
miserable circumstances are now proclaiming in the ears of all 
who know the worth of a Saviour and of immortal souls, ' Come 
over, and help us !' " 

The details of this memorable tour in 1797 may be forgotten. 
and even the recollection of the excitement it produced through- 
out Scotland may be ignored by ecclesiastical historians more 
zealous for party than for truth. But the blossoms did not "go 
up as dust," and the fruits cannot perish. Some accounts will be 
given in these Memoirs of the actual results, as seen after time 
had tested their reality. But the extent of the blessing will never 
be known till the number of the elect shall be accomplished, and 
the Lord shall hasten his coming. Multitudes dated their turning 
to God from the period of this awakening. Several years later, 



176 CONCLUSION OF THE TOUE. 

the Rev. Mr. Cleghorn names, as within his own knowledge, in 
the small town of Wick alone, forty cases in which there had 
been a solid work of conversion. But it is not merely from such 
instances that the good done must be estimated. It was far 
more visible in the impulse given to the Established Church, and 
to the other denominations in Scotland. This very circumstance 
may occasionally have tended to prevent the due acknowledgment 
of the services of these laborers, but as they did not look for 
human applause, or a crown of earthly glory, they were not dis- 
appointed. Their ambition soared to a loftier end than the appro- 
bation of their fellow-men. They desired to sacrifice all for Christ, 
and doubtless the labors and services which they were privileged 
to render are recorded in the book of (rod, and will one day be 
acknowledged in the presence of angels and of men. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

[1797-1798.] 

After Mr. James Haldane's return from his first northern torn 
his position was completely changed. The idea of leading the 
retired life of a country gentleman was at an end. He had 
assumed a new character, incurred new responsibilities, and 
attracted to himself the notice of all Scotland. He had "put his 
hand to the plough" in the Gospel field, and to have drawn back 
after such encouragement would have seemed an act of spiritual 
rebellion and deep ingratitude. The slumbers of a careless and 
worldly clergy had been broken, — the attention of the people had 
been aroused ; and whilst the Gospel had been received by many, 
a still greater number began to inquire, What must we do to be 
saved ? There was great excitement, and withal not a little irri- 
tation. Some derided his zeal as the ebullition of a distempered 
brain, whilst by those who knew that he spoke " the words of 
truth and soberness," the question was eagerly canvassed, "What 
confers authority to preach ? "Various opinions were expressed 
even by good men, and by enemies to the truth lay preaching 
was loudly and bitterly denounced. In a qualified degree it had 
been already sanctioned by the father of the Evangelical clergy, 
the learned and pious Dr. Erskine, who, in the preface to one of 
his works, bears testimony to the blessing which had attended the 
labors of a zealous lay preacher in the Highlands, in convincing 
and converting many who would not otherwise have listened to 
the Gospel. Other instances of remarkable revivals brought about 
by lay preaching were appealed to, and particularly those men- 
tioned in the Appendix to the valuable "Historical Collections" 
of the late Dr. Gillies, of Glasgow. 

But in regard to Mr. James Haldane, the blessing which had 
attended his labors was to himself, as to others, the best evidence 

12 



178 SOCIETY FOE PROPAGATING THE GOSPEL AT HOME. 

of his call to the work. The celebrated Mr. Cowie, of Huntly, 
familiarly styled the "Whitfield of the north, thus wrote: — "No 
honest pastor has anything to dread from the friendly visits of 
such men. They come not to shake his influence, but to place 
him higher in the affections of his people, by spreading the light 
of truth among them." And in a long letter, dated November, 
1797, published in the " Missionary Magazine," the same expe- 
rienced and able minister thus records his testimony : — " I and 
several other ministers heard Mr. Haldane on his late tour ; and 
I confess, though I have been little short of thirty years a minis- 
ter, have heard many excellent preachers, and laid my hand on 
many heads, I have very seldom heard anything so much to my 
satisfaction, and nothing that could exceed Mr. Haldane's dis- 
courses. I could even say more, but I forbear. He carries his 

CREDENTIALS WITH HIM, AND NEEDS NOT RECOMMENDATORY 

letters. (2 Cor. hi. 13.)" 

Under all these circumstances, was it probable that he should 
falter in his course, or that he should not persevere in his prac- 
tical answer to the question of Dr. Carlyle and the rest of the 
Moderates, when they opposed Foreign Missions by asking if we 
had not " enough of heathen at home ?" He felt that he had 
been forgiven much, and knowing, in his own experience, the 
Lord Jesus as the only and Almighty Saviour, he spoke from the 
heart to the heart, and was honored to become one of the chief 
instruments of that movement by which Scotland was roused 
from a state of spiritual death. But in carrying out these Home 
Missions it was needful to make some systematic effort to provide 
other preachers, to continue and extend the work which he had 
himself begun in the summer of 1797. A plan for training young 
men had for some time been in agitation. Dr. Bogue, always 
foremost in every attempt to promote the kingdom of Christ, had 
established an Association in Hampshire, the design of which was 
to make the Gospel known in the neighboring towns and villages. 
Following in the wake of the Hampshire Association, a Society 
was established in Edinburgh, consisting of Christians of different 
denominations, under the name of " The Society for Propagating 
the Gospel at Home." A preliminary meeting was held on the 
20th December, 1797, and the first General Meeting on the 11th 
January following, when a Committee of twelve Directors was 
appointed, all of whom were laymen, and nine of them engaged 



MR. EWINQ SECEDES. 179 

in secular pursuits, The following is the list as they appear 
in order : — 



" Mr. James Christie, 
Mr. Robert Haldane. 
Mr. A. Johnstone. 
Mr. John Campbell. 
Mr. George Gibson. 
Mr. John Aikman. 



Mr. Robert Morris. 
Mr. Walter Russell. 
Mr. James Haldane. 
Mr. John Greig. 
Mr. George Peattie. 
Mr. Andrew Rochead. 



OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY. 

Mr. John Ritchie, Secretary. 
Mr. Alexander Steel, Treasurer. 
Mr. George Wilson, Clerk." 

In their first address they declare, — "It is not our design to 
form or to extend the influence of any sect. Our sole intention 
is to make known the Evangelical Gospel of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. In employing itinerants, schoolmasters or others, we do 
not consider ourselves as conferring ordination upon them, or 
appointing them to the pastoral office. We only propose by 
sending them out, to supply the means of grace wherever we 
perceive a deficiency." The labors of this society were greatly 
blessed. It was one of its principles that its itinerants and cate- 
chists should make no public collections, or take money privately 
from those amongst whom they preached, and it undertook to 
defray the expenses of stated ministers desirous of extending 
their sphere of labor. Public subscriptions for its support were 
received, but to a very limited extent, for by far the greater part 
of the funds were supplied by Mr. Haldane. 

The principles and plans of this Society were materially aided 
and recommended by the pen of Mr. Cowie and other ministers, 
through the pages of the " Missionary Magazine." Of that pub- 
lication the Editor, Mr. Ewing had not then left the Established 
Church, although his position was every day becoming more un- 
tenable. On the 24th December, 1797, he delivered a powerful 
and eloquent sermon in defence of field-preaching, which pro- 
duced a great sensation, and served still more to alarm the Mod- 
erates. The occasion of this sermon was a request to preach on 
behalf of the Edinburgh Sabbath-evening Schools, which had 
been rapidly increasing under the influence of a new impulse. 
Mr. Ewing undertook to prove that the unfettered preaching of 
the Gospel was one of those characters of universality which dis- 



180 LETTEK TO THE "MISSIONARY MAGAZINE." 

tinguish the Christian from the Jewish dispensation, and he ably 
contended, that in the closing words of the Apocalypse, the 
whole system of revelation, and the whole mystery of God, seem 
to be resolved into the provision made for the universal propaga- 
tion of the Gospel. "The Holy Spirit and the Church unite their 
voice, and continually cry to sinners, Come. This precious invi- 
tation is so necessary to be known, and known without a mo- 
ment's delay, that every one that heareth is commanded to repeat 
it. Like a multiplying and never-dying echo, ' the joyful sound' 
must be on all sides transmitted from one to another, that in this 
accepted time, in this day of salvation, he that is athirst may 
come, and whosoever will, may take the water of life freely." 

The publication of the "Journal of the Tour to the North," 
prepared and edited by Mr. J. A. Haldane, served still more to 
swell the mingled tumult of censure and approval which the new 
proceedings had called forth. The "Journal" went rapidly 
through three large editions, of which, at least one consisted of 
5,000 copies, which were eagerly bought up and read with inter- 
est. In the spring of 1798, Mr. Eate was commissioned by the 
new Society to itinerate as their agent in Fife, whilst Mr. John 
Cleghorn and Mr. Ballantyne, originally belonging to the Scotch 
Secession Church, who had also studied under Dr. Bogue, were 
despatched to the North, there to labor in those places where so 
great an awakening had followed the preaching of Mr. J. Hal- 
dane during those memorable weeks, when the illness of Mr. 
Aikman had detained him in Caithness. 

It was the privilege both of Mr. Haldane and Mr. Aikman, to 
be able to preach the Gospel without charge, and their move- 
ments were therefore independent of the Society. They re- 
solved, in the course of the approaching summer, to visit the 
south and west of Scotland upon the same errand of mercy as 
that which had previously conducted them to the north. Before 
setting out, they addressed the following letter to the " Missionary 
Magazine." It indicates the spirit in which their labors were 
undertaken : — 

" To the Editor of the ' Missionary Magazine.'' 

" Sir, — We last year requested the prayers of our Christian brethren through 
the channel of your valuable publication. The favor we met with, and the 
many opportunities we enjoyed of preaching c>alvation, through Jesus Christ, to 
multitudes of our northern brethren, proved that their prayers were heard on 
our behalf. There has been, it would appear, in some places a shaking among 



LAY PEE ACHING. 181 

the dry bones ; and the anxiety which many have since expressed to hear the 
Word of God, we would hope is a token that the Spirit of life has entered into 
the hearts of some. 

" Two of those who went out last year are about to set off for the western 
and southern parts of Scotland, with a view of calling upon the careless to 
consider their ways. While we take this opportunity of requesting- a renewal 
of the prayers of our brethren for our direction and success, we would observe 
that it is our intention to adopt a different line of conduct from that which we 
formerly pursued, in animadverting on the sermons of particular ministers. 
This afforded a handle to those who did not approve of our design, to repre- 
sent us as actuated by party spirit and ill-will to individuals. While we can 
safely say our consciences bear us witness that our motives were very different, 
yet we now see the propriety of cutting off occasion from those who seek 
occasion, as well as of removing prejudice from some of our brethren who, in 
this particular, disapproved of our conduct. We accordingly take this oppor- 
tunity to state, that we are resolved to confine ourselves in our intended jour- 
ney, to the declaration of what we consider as the truth of God, without 
making personal remarks on any individual. 

"James Haldane. 
"John Airman." 

The itinerating system had become decidedly popular with the 
multitude, and during the winter and spring of 1797-8, the 
preachers had not been idle. There was a great awakening and 
general spirit of inquiry, and the Moderates were filled with indig- 
nation. Even some of the friends of the Gospel began to trem- 
ble for the whole fabric of the Establishment, and dreaded the 
approach of a disruption. " Our good clergy," writes Mr. Camp- 
bell to the Countess of Leven, " have different opinions about it. 
The majority are in favor of it. Dr. Erskine thinks that the 
preachers should not take a text, but just give an exhortation. 
The gentlemen say that they could not keep up variety in this 
way. Dr. Stuart thinks that they ought to have a formal com- 
mission from some Church. As for myself, I did not give an 
opinion at first ; but now their plan vindicates itself to me, for 
they are not preaching to the Church, but to the world." The 
venerable Countess closed her life just before the second tour, 
made in the summer of 1798. Her Ladyship was one of those 
who dreaded the consequences to the constitution of the Estab- 
lished Church which might result from so openly and plainly 
exposing the faithless clergy. In her younger days she had en- 
couraged Whitfield boldly to denounce and rebuke " hirelings," 
but age had rendered her more timid, although, amidst her fears, 
she observes, that, " after all, anything is better than dust gather- 
ing through drowsiness and indolence." 



132 LETTER FROM EEV. C. SIMEOX. 

The boldness with which the itinerants had attacked the false 
doctrines of unfaithful ministers, seemed to Dr. Erskine and other 
fathers of the Church, subversion of order. To the judgment of 
such men they were willing to bow, and therefore, in the fore- 
going letter, published at the outset of their tour in 1798, they 
announced that they did not intend in future to pursue that plan, 
although there were those who considered that the necessities of 
the times rendered the bolder course preferable for its faithful- 
ness, as well as its efficiency. The outcry which it produced 
was the best proof of its results, and from no tour were more 
abundant fruits gathered than from the first. 

The following letters from Mr. Simeon contain his views at that 
mature period of his life, in regard to lay preaching and the re- 
cent tour. Between Mr. Simeon and Mr. James Haldane there 
long subsisted a close and affectionate correspondence. 

Copy of a Letter from the Rev. Charles Simeon to J. A. Haldane, Esq. 

"King's College. Cambridge, April 13. 1798. 

" My very dear Feie>t>, — I have been long intending to write to you. and 
though my manifold engagements might, in a measure, plead my excuse for the 
delay, yet the true reason has been, that I have been in a state of utter uncer- 
tainty with respect to my projected journey, and was unwilling to write till I 
could speak something positively with respect to it. ... If I can have my 
God to go before me in the pillar and the cloud. I long exceedingly to visit you 
once more ; but if I cannot see my way clear, I am better where I am. Had 
my plan been finally settled, you would have heard from me long since ; but I 
have dreaded any appearance of fickleness. A ministers word should never be 
yea and nay; he should plan with wisdom, and execute with firmness. O that 
God would direct my way. I hope I can truly say, ' Thy will be done.' 

" With respect to your excursion, I am far from having entertained the opinion 
you suppose. I must acknowledge that I think immortal souls of such value, 
that I should rejoice if all the Lord's people were prophets. With respect to 
regularity, propriety, &c, the most godly men in all ages have differed in their 
judgment ; and I find it so difficult precisely to draw the line in any case of my 
own, that I do not presume to judge for others. Some think they may eat 
meat, and others not; I neither judge nor despise, but leave all to their own 
Master. We certainly must not do moral evil, that good may come. But if 
mercy and sacrifice stand in opposition to each other, we may choose mercy; 
and if David and his men be fainting with hunger, they may eat the forbidden 
bread. I love all good men of all descriptions, and rejoice in the good they do, 
whether they do it in my way or not. I think for myself and act for myself, 
and leave others to do the same. 

u As a minister who has a flock that is dear to him. I stand more aloof from 
those who might injure them than I should if I were a private individual. . . . 
But if I must err on one side, I wish it to be on the side of love and zeal. 



LETTER FROM REV. C. SIMEON. 183 

" As for more union among the different parties of Christians, I do not much 
expect to see it. 'Everyman,' said Luther, 'has a Pope in his own belly.' 
People of different sentiments may coalesce for a time, but there are few who 
will not be endeavoring to proselyte others. I have almost invariably found it 
so, especially among the different classes of Dissenters ; but among the Mora- 
vians far less than any other sect. There is another bone of contention which 
at this time renders such a union more difficult than ever. A great multitude 
of men, whose piety we cannot reasonably doubt, have sadly hurt their own 
spirit by dabbling in politics. . . . You, my dear friend, I trust, have steered 
clear of this rock. The Lord has given you a meek and spiritual mind, and I 
earnestly pray that you may ever have it occupied with the best things. There 
is, indeed, danger, even to the best of men, lest their minds should be soured 
by opposition and disappointment. I hope your brother's disappointment (about 
India) and the opposition you may have met with in your itinerancies have not 
produced this effect. Let us look through second causes, and then we shall be 
prepared to say, at all times, ' It is the Lord, let Him do what seemeth Him 
good.' I promise myself much pleasure in the perusal of your ' Journal ;' and, 
if we live to meet again, much delight in your conversation and prayers. Pre- 
sent my very affectionate respects to Mrs. Haldane, and believe me, yours, &c, 

" C. Sdieon." 

A few days later the following letter was written, and indicates 
the substantial satisfaction, with which the patriarch of evange- 
lism at Cambridge viewed the proceedings of his younger and 
more unfettered friend. It shows, too, how Mr. Simeon was him- 
self stimulated to follow in the very same track, with this differ- 
ence, that he would restrict himself to Presbyterian Churches and 
Episcopalian Chapels. 

Rev. Charles Simeon to James Haldane, Esq. 

" My dearest Brother, — My mind is now with God's permission, fully made 
up to visit you, and to be at Edinburgh the 16th, or more probably 17th, of 
May. I have been reading your Journal, if not with unqualified approbation, I 
may truly say with exceeding great joy and delight. I bless and adore my God, 
who has stirred up your soul to seek the salvation of His people, and I earnest- 
ly pray that a blessing may attend your labor of love. 

" Thus far I have no objection to have known. But what I am going to say 
must be kept secret from every living creature.* . . . 

* The secret which Mr. Simeon did not wish to be divulged, applied only to that 
time, and related to his plan of going northward, with Dr. Walter Buchanan, over 
the same ground as that which had been so lately traversed by Mr. James Haldane, 
yet not so as to appear altogether to be publicly identified with his friend. He 
therefore wished Mr. J. H. privately to prepare the way for him, by sending letters 
to his acquaintance in all the principal places where there were Churches belonging 
either to Presbyterians or Episcopalians, with the view of procuring pulpits where 
he might be allowed to preach. He adds, however, that he was not going to preach 
in the open air, or in opposition to false teachers. " It is not my plan to preach as 



184 SECOND ITINERATING TOUR. 

" I again request you," he says, " not to judge me before you know my rea- 
sons, but to believe that my heart is with all those who love our Lord Jesus 
Christ in sincerity. If I cannot do the good which you did, be thankful that I 
wish to glean your leavings, and to move in somewhat a more confined path, 
rather than do nothing. — With most fervent love, I remain (with affectionate 
*espects also to Mrs. H.,) 

"Yours in the Lord, 

"April 16, 1798. C. Simeon." 

Mr. Simeon did come to Scotland, and received from Mr. James 
Haldane all the affectionate aid and co-operation in his power. 
The motives which actuated Mr. Simeon in withholding a public 
avowal of his approbation of lay preaching were fully appreciated, 
and did not for a moment cause any umbrage to his friend. It 
was, however, on this occasion that, preaching in the Tolbooth 
Church, Mr. Simeon prayed that the Assembly " might do no 
evil," — a prayer which might have been most appropriate in pri- 
vate, considering the composition of the Assembly, but one which 
did not fail to produce irritation. Mr. James Haldane used play- 
fully to remark that he generally observed that there was more of 
true wisdom in a simple and straightforward course, and that those 
who valued themselves on their own prudence often signally erred 
in this particular. In his opinion, Mr. Simeon's prayer did much 
to precipitate the exclusion from the Scottish pulpits of the clergy 
of the Church of England and other non-Presbyterian bodies. 

The venerable John Newton, of St. Mary Woolnoth, still more 
openly gave his countenance and blessing to the itinerants. u If," 
he writes to Mr. Campbell, "if all were like-minded with Messrs. 
Haldane and Aikman, I would pray the Lord to increase their 
number a hundred-fold. Give my love to them, and tell them 
that I rejoice in their zeal, their acceptance, and in their success. 
"Why should not the Orkney and the Shetland Islands deserve 
attention as much as the Islands of the South Sea ? I hope Gos- 
pel zeal will, in due time, sail northward to Shetland, and west- 
ward to St. Kilda, and all the intermediate islands." 

Encouraged by past success, and by the prayers and good wish- 
es of Christians of many denominations, Mr. James Haldane and 
Mr. Aikman set off on their second extensive tour on Thursday, 
the 14th June, 1798, travelling by Peebles, Biggar, Hamilton, 
Greenock, &c, into Ayrshire and Galloway, preaching the Gospel 

you did. and therefore I wish nothing to be said tome upon that subject. If I were 
alone, or with you, I might act differently ; but circumstanced as I shall be, my 
mind is made up." 



MR. WATSON'S LETTER. 185 

in all these districts, and finally completing their circuit home by 
way of Berwick. The attention which they excited was as great 
in the west and south of Scotland, as it had been in the north. 
Multitudes nocked to hear the Gospel, and to the hearts of many 
it was brought home with power. In some places they encoun- 
tered more opposition than before, and especially at Ayr, where 
Mr. J. Haldane was interrupted in preaching at the market-cross, 
and summoned before the magistrates, who had been incited to 
interfere. But he had done nothing unlawful, and he was not a 
man to yield to intimidation. He was threatened with imprison- 
ment if he should preach on the following day, as he had an- 
nounced; but he assured the magistrates that menaces without 
lawful sanction were of no avail. He would not indeed preach at 
the cross, or at any place to which just exception might be taken, 
but simply in preaching he infringed no law, and, on the contrary, 
was protected by the Toleration Act. " Depend upon it," said 
one of them, — " depend upon it, that you will be arrested." Mr. 
Haldane replied, " And depend upon it, Sir, I shall be punctual 
to my appointment." He was on the ground at the appointed 
time, and preached to a great audience without molestation. One 
of the gentlemen most eager in opposition was a county magis- 
trate, lately returned from India with a large fortune. In the 
course of this altercation, having discovered who the preacher 
was, and that they had mutual friends, he was disposed to treat 
him with greater courtesy, although still persisting in the deter- 
mination to put down field-preaching. He appeared on the ground 
next day, with some other magistrates, as if intending to carry 
their threat into force. Mr. J. Haldane proceeded, fearless of 
their menaces. They listened in silence, offered no interruption, 
and went away seemingly awed and solemnized. 

An account of Mr. J. Haldane's first sermon at the cross of Ayr 
has been written by a survivor, who himself owed his own soul 
to the blessed words which then for the first time reached hia 
conscience. That good man, Mr. Watson, afterwards minister of 
Dumfries, and long a valuable itinerant round Edinburgh, and 
forward in every good work, writes as follows : — 

" 15 Calton-street, Edinburgh, April 9, 1851. 
" Although unwilling to put in writing the unpremeditated narration made 
by me two years ago, at a public meeting held in the Tabernacle, yet at your 
urgent and reiterated request I comply, rather than assume a position of refusal 
in a matter relating in some respects more to your father than to myself. The 
facts are simply these : — 



186 PREACHING AT AYR. 

" In the year 1798, your late venerated father, along with the late Mr. John 
Aikman, whose praise is in all the churches, visited my native place, the ancient 
town of Ayr. 

" On their arrival, one Saturday, intimation was publicly made by the town 
bell-man that Mr. Haldane was to preach at the cross the same evening, at seven 
o'clock. I received this information from a good old woman, who asked if I 
would go and hear. I replied, ' No, no ; I never go to hear men who preach 
in the streets for bawbees.' In answer to which she assured me ■ they were 
independent gentlemen, who did na' preach for siller.' This appeared to me 
so extraordinary, that I at once resolved to go and hear for myself, which I 
accordingly did. 

" His sermon was delivered with such fervor and earnestness as to produce a 
deep impression on the listening multitude. 

" Intimation was also given that he would again preach, with the Lord's per- 
mission, on the same spot on the following morning (Sabbath), at nine o'clock. 
I was at the cross, along with my father, before the hour, where large numbers 
soon assembled. The text was in John hi. 3, ' Except a man be born again, 
he cannot see the kingdom of heaven.' 

" About the middle of his sermon, the town-officers came from the magis- 
trates, and said, ' You must go with us to the Council-room,' where the authori- 
ties were then assembled. Mr. Haldane went, but requested the people to 
remain, as he hoped he should not be long detained. He soon returned, and 
informed the people that he was commanded to preach no more in that place, 
but he told them he would finish his discourse. Before doing so, however, the 
officers were again sent to stop him ; but when they came near, instead of put- 
ting their orders into execution, they stood respectfully behind until he had 
finished, and they were heard to say that they were ashamed to execute the 
orders against such a gentleman. 

"I should explain that the cross stands, or rather stood, in a corner of the 
street where there was an open space, which afforded accommodation for the 
assemblage, and therefore the thoroughfare was little, if at all, interrupted. 

" On dismissing the people, Mr. Haldane intimated that he would preach that 
evening on the other side of the river, on the Newton Green. 

" The report of such treatment gave general offence to the inhabitants of the 
place, and brought a still greater multitude to hear him in the evening. On 
Monday morning, Mr. Aikman preached to a large assemblage on the Town 
Green. A private individual, who rented a part for grazing cattle, had with 
generous indignation offered his portion of the Green for the public accom- 
modation. 

" In the following year Mr. Haldane again visited Ayr, and the report of his 
former visit and treatment having spread over the county, brought together 
immense numbers to hear him. 

" To the honor of my friend and then minister, the late Dr. Peebles, let it be 
told, when sermon was announced on one of the evenings unfavorable to out-of- 
door preaching, he offered Mr. Haldane the use of his church (the Newton 
parish church upon Ayr), where he accordingly preached to a full house, from 
1st Peter i. 18, 19, ' Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with 
corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as 



RESULTS OF PREACHING. 187 

of a lamb without blemish and without spot.' These were seasons of refresh- 
ing from the presence of the Lord, and long remembered by many. 

'•Mr. Haldane's visits to the west of Scotland were the means of awakening 
not a few out of their spiritual slumbers, and of infusing fresh life into the 
languishing souls of many of God's own people connected with other denom- 
inations. 

" Although more than fifty years have run their course since these things 
were done, the remembrance is as fresh on my memory as if they were only 
the transactions of yesterday. In my imagination I see Mr. James Haldane's 
manly form and commanding attitude, in youthful but dignified zeal, pouring 
out of the fulness of his soul a free, full, and everlasting salvation to the won- 
dering multitude, who by the expression of their faces seemed to say, ' We 
have heard strange things to-day.' 

"And I may well remember that first sermon of Mr. Haldane's, in 1798, 
standing as he did on the steps of the old cross of Ayr, as it may be said to 
have been the pivot on which the events of my after-existence all turned'. It 
was that sermon that led me to Christ, and eventually to the relinquishment 
of my business and other engagements in Ayr. It was that sermon that led 
me to your uncle's academy at Dundee and Edinburgh, from thence to the 
pastorate of the Congregational Church at Dumfries, which I voluntarily re- 
signed after Mr. Robert Haldane's change to Baptist sentiments, a circumstance 
which more than forty years ago brought me again to Edinburgh, where I have 
since resided. It is far from my wish to convey the idea of any undue inter- 
ference on the part of your late respected uncle, as proprietor of the Chapel. 
That gentleman ever acted towards me as a friend and a Christian. 

" And now, my dear Sir, allow me to close this narration with my earnest 
prayer that the Lord God Almighty, who blessed Abraham and your father 
also, and made them blessings, may also bless you and yours, and all the house 
of your father, both small and great. And for his sake, I remain, 

" Your most affectionate friend and well-wisher, 

" A. Haldane, Esq. William Watson." 

There are many incidental evidences of the blessing which 
attended the tour of 1798, although no printed record of it has 
been published. In a letter from Annan, in the "Missionary 
Magazine," it is said: "Since Messrs. Haldane and Aikman vis- 
ited our part of the country, a Sabbath-school has been erected at 
Annan, containing about eighty scholars, who appear to be doing 
well." Again, with reference to the same tour : "At Longtown 
there appears to be a spirit of inquiry after Divine things. At 
Cannanby there have been five Sabbath-schools erected within 
these two months, containing about one hundred and thirty chil- 
dren." At Berwick they also preached with great acceptance, 
and were hailed with joy by the friends of the Gospel. The peo- 
ple generally came out to hear in crowds, and numbers found, in 
these opportunities, a message of peace to their souls. 



188 KEY. KOWLAND HILL. 

It was whilst prosecuting this second extensive tour, that a 
stranger appeared, whose arrival added fuel to the flame which 
had already blazed up, both in the north and south of Scotland. 
The two preachers had repaired to Langholm, in the county of 
Koxburgh, in the hope of doing some good to the multitude 
assembled at the annual fair. It was a summer's evening, on the 
26th of July, when, walking on the romantic banks of the river 
Esk, they passed by an English clergyman, also enjoying the re- 
tirement of the scene, but engaged in close conversation with the 
minister of the parish. His person and his errand were alike 
unknown to them. In such a place and at such a time, it was 
impossible not to be struck with his appearance. His tall, com- 
manding figure, piercing eye, and aquiline nose, gave effect to a 
countenance beaming with intelligence, on which there was withal 
the indication of a natural and irresistible vein of humor. It was 
the celebrated Kowland Hill, the brother of the well-known and 
pious Sir Kichard Hill, of Hawkestone, M.P. for Shropshire, and 
uncle of that gallant peer, who, after having fought on almost 
every field, from Alexandria to Waterloo, was for so many years 
the Commander-in-Chief. Mr. Hill shall himself relate, in his 
own quaint style, the manner of his introduction to his new 
friends. The narrative is contained in his journal of his first tour 
in Scotland : — 

" Having had no opportunity to appoint different stages at 
which to preach between Carlisle and Edinburgh, I spent the 
Thursday evening at Langholm. It happened to be the time of 
their public fair, and a sad example it exhibited, on my first 
night's lodging in Scotland, the opposite to what I expected to 
find of decency and good behavior among the people in those 
parts. The fair was a downright revel ; dancing, drunkenness, 
and lasciviousness, seemed to be the principal motives which had 
brought them together. In England I scarce ever saw a more 
disgraceful assemblage; and in some parts of "Wales I have 
passed through large fairs, when it was pleasant to behold the 
innocent and well-ordered bustle of the day. . After that traffic 
had ended, all returned at an early hour, with scarce an instance 
of a sober person being disgusted by a reprobate, or insulted by 
a drunkard. 

" As the same horse, with a light vehicle, conveyed me and my 
servant from stage to stage, the next being a long one, I was under 
the necessity of spending the night in this temporary hell, but 



PLAN FOR EDUCATING AFRICAN CHILDREN. 189 

that I might enjoy a little respite from the wretched tumult, 1 
took my evening's walk out of the town, by the side of a roman- 
tic river. Here I was very kindly accosted by a gentleman, who, 
I conceive, was the minister of the parish, and who, with much, 
hospitality, offered me every accommodation his house could 
afford from the confusion of the town ; but having already pro 
cured a private lodging, I declined his very friendly offer. While 
we were in conversation, Messrs. J. Haldane and Aikman passed. 
These gentlemen were then unknown to me. I was told, but in 
very candid language, their errand and design ; that it was a 
marvellous circumstance, quite a phenomenon, that an East India 
captain, a gentleman of good family and connections, should turn 
out an itinerant preacher ; that he should travel from town to 
town, and all against his own interest and character. This infor- 
mation was enough for me. I immediately sought out the itiner- 
ants. When I inquired for them of the landlady of the inn, she 
told me she supposed I meant the two priests who were at her 
house, but she could not satisfy me of what religion they ivere. 
The two priests, however, and myself soon met ; and, to our mu- 
tual satisfaction, passed the evening together." 

Mr. Hill next morning went forward towards Edinburgh, 
whilst his two friends remained to complete their itinerating labor 
of love. 

PLAN FOR BRINGING OVER AFRICAN CHILDREN FOR EDUCATION. 

Before Mr. Hill's visit to Scotland, and contemporaneous with 
the institution of the Circus as a place for preaching, there was 
another plan, which originated in the same ardent philanthropy 
and zeal for the glory of God, which marked the renewed char- 
acter of Robert Haldane. It was a scheme for bringing over 
young Africans to Britain, with the view of educating them in 
this country in the principles of Christianity, and sending them 
back to their native land imbued with a knowledge of civiliza- 
tion, and, as far as human efforts could avail, with a knowledge 
of the Gospel. 

This scheme originated with Mr. John Campbell, and will be 
best told in the simple though somewhat quaint style of his own 
autobiography : — 

" The formation of the London Missionary Society for extending the knowl- 
edge of the glorious Gospel to all ends of the earth, and the Society being 



190 PLAN FOR EDUCATING AFRICAN CHILDREN. 

composed of Christians of all denominations, had a most electrifying effect on 
the Christians of the North. * We were like men who dreamed.' From the 
days of George Whitfield till then, the Christians on both sides of the Tweed 
had been fast asleep. . . . 

" In a short time a similar Society was formed in Edinburgh, and I was 
chosen to be on the direction. The first field they fixed on for the theatre of 
their operations, was the Continent of Africa; to commence in the vicinity of 
Sierra Leone ; to which some missionaries were sent, and several pious young 
men volunteered to the Sierra Leone Company to go to their settlement as 
clerks, &c, and one as chaplain. Death carried off the chaplain and some of 
the young men, and terminated the Mission. Musing on the unhealthiness of 
the climate to European constitutions one morning, this thought occurred : 
1 Might we not bring over Africa to England, educate her, when some, through 
grace and Gospel, might be converted, and sent back to Africa? If not con- 
verted, yet they might help to spread civilization, so all would not be lost !' The 
amount of which was to bring over twenty or thirty, or more, boys and girls, 
from the coast of Guinea, through the influence of Governor Macaulay ; edu- 
cate them in Edinburgh, and send them back to their own country, to spread 
knowledge, especially scriptural knowledge. 

" I laid my proposed scheme before two or three judicious friends, who ap- 
proved of it, as did also Henry Thornton, M.P., Treasurer of the Sierra Leone 
Company, and Mr. Wilberforce ; but I entered more fully into the consideration 
of the matter with the late Charles Grant, Chairman of the East India Com- 
pany, who had not been long returned from India, and had come with his 
family to Scotland on a visit to the Leven family. Having exchanged letters 
once a-week with the venerable Countess of Leven for a considerable time, she 
got Mr. Grant to promise to call upon me as he passed through Edinburgh to 
London, which he condescended to do, and invited me to spend the only two 
evenings he was to be in Edinburgh at his hotel with him and family. This I 
considered to be a most favorable opportunity for consulting a wise, good, and 
experienced man, in regard to my then favorite plan. I was delighted to ob- 
serve the interest he took in it, and the minuteness of his calculations regarding 
the expense of bringing them over from Africa and sending them back five 
years later." 

Mr. Campbell's first efforts resulted in a correspondence with 
Mr. Wilberforce, Mr. Thornton, and others, of " the Clapham 
Sect," who highly approved of the plan, but hesitated as to the 
expense, and judged it better to postpone the scheme until at 
peace with France, when it might be hoped that the removal of 
the war-taxes would render it easier to obtain subscriptions. 

About a year and a half later, it happened in the month of 
March, 1798, that Mr. Campbell was invited to meet a few ex 
cellent Christians at supper at Mr. Haldane's house, then in 
Prince's-street, Edinburgh. " At one time," says Mr. Campbell, 
" there was a pause in the conversation. Mr. Alexander Pitcairn, 
who sat opposite to me, said, ( Mr. Campbell, what has become 



MEETING AT ME. HALDANE'S HOUSE. 191 

of your African scheme ? I have not heard anything of it for a 
long time.' To which I replied, ' It is put off to the peace, 7 
which created a general smile. Mr. Haldane asked from the 
head of the table, what scheme I had, never having heard of it." 
Mr. Campbell then relates how he explained his project, and how 
the conversation next turned upon the idea of having a place of 
worship built on the plan of Mr. Whitfield's tabernacles, and 
that, having mentioned that the Circus might then be obtained, 
as the Belief congregation had left it, Mr. Haldane looked to a 
lawyer who was present, and said, " Mr. Dymock, will you in- 
quire about it to-morrow ? and if it be to let, take it for a year." 

"It was believed," continued Mr. Campbell, "by many that 
this system of tabernacles was a scheme laid for overturning the 
Established Church. Now there was not one Dissenter present 
at that supper, where the matter was proposed and approved. 
All were members of the Establishment, and I believe the object 
of all, when they approved of the proposed scheme, was the col- 
lecting of sinners to the Saviour. When the meeting was con- 
cluded, every one returned to his own home, very prayerful. 

" Next morning I received a note from Mr. Haldane, wishing 
me to call on him as soon as I could. I went to him directly. 
He said that my African scheme had occupied his waking thoughts 
ever since I mentioned it last night, on which the following con- 
versation took place : — ' What is the real reason why you were 
advised to defer commencing the Institution?' 'Entirely the 
dreaded difficulty of obtaining funds to defray the expense.' 
" Have you calculated the probable amount of these expenses?' 
'Yes; the probable expense of bringing over thirty children, 
lodging, supporting, and educating them for five years, and their 
passage back to Africa, will cost from 6,000?. to 7,000/.' ' Sup- 
posing you were to write to the Governor of Sierra Leone, stating 
that you had sufficient funds for supporting such an Institution, 
and requesting him to collect thirty or forty of the sons and 
daughters of the African chiefs over whom he had influence, and 
send them over to you, do you think he would have sufficient 
confidence in you to fulfil your commission ? ' I think he would.' 
1 On what do you ground that expectation ?' ' When the French 
destroyed the Settlement, or Free-town, Governor Macaulay came 
to London to lay the state of things before the Company. After 
finishing the business there, he visited Scotland, to see his rela- 
tions. On coming to Edinburgh, he called upon me with a letter 



192 MEETING AT ME. HALDANE'S HOUSE. 

of introduction from the Eev. John Newton, which would be a 
sufficient passport to any Christian in Scotland, so highly were 
his works prized. The Governor had four sisters in Edinburgh 
living together, and as they had no particular friend to advise 
with, he requested me to engage to be their adviser ; to which 
proposal I readily consented. In the course of a year after they 
came under my wing, I was bridegroom's man to three out of 
the four.' On hearing this statement Mr. Haldane was satisfied, 
and volunteered to be responsible for the whole expense, and 
gave me a letter to that effect. Accordingly I wrote by that day's 
post to Governor Macaulay, Sierra Leone, requesting him to ob- 
tain thirty or thirty -five African boys and girls, and send them 
to Edinburgh, as I had obtained sufficient funds to defray all ex- 
penses. I sent it to the care of Henry Thornton, M.P., Treas- 
urer to the Sierra Leone Company." 



CHAPTER IX. 

[1798.] 

"June 16, 1798, was the last night I paid the laborers at 
Airthre}\" Such is the entry found in the short memorandum 
of the dates of the principal events of Mr. Haldane's life. Dr. 
Innes, who was then Minister of Stirling, mentions, that on that 
evening, in the prospect of quitting forever his paternal estate, 
Mr. Haldane assembled all his domestics, including the gardeners 
and laborers, in the servants' hall, where supper was provided 
for them and their families. On that occasion, after attending 
himself to their comforts, he addressed them personally, and took 
a kind farewell of them all, asked them to forgive anything in 
which he had failed in his duties as a master, and expressed his 
desire for their temporal and eternal welfare. For some of those 
who were old or infirm, or had been long on the estate, lie secured 
small pensions. There was one aged person who was much 
attached to the family, who could not bear the disruption of the 
tie, whose forebodings were dissipated by her own death on the 
very day when the family left Airthrey. In Sir Eobert Aber- 
cromby they all found a most benevolent and indulgent master, 
and more than twenty years afterwards i* was his pride to mention, 
that there was not one of Mr. Haldane's people who had not been 
attended to as much as if their old master had remained. 

It might seem rather improbable that Mr. Haldane's farewell 
to Airthrey should be associated with Mr. Eowland Hill's visit to 
Scotland. Yet such was the fact. It was on Mr. Haldane's invi- 
tation, and that of his brother, that Mr. Hill came, with a view to 
ulterior proceedings for the propagation of the Gospel at home. 
The field of his operation was changed, but the forces to be em- 
ployed were the same. 

Airthrey had been for nearly two years for sale, when it was 

13 



194 SIR WILLIAM MORISON. 

purchased by an uncle of Mrs. James Haldane's, the late Sir 
Kobert Abercromby, G.C.B., then lately returned from India. 
The whole of the estate was not, indeed, at this time disposed of, 
but the sale included the house, park, woods, and principal farms, 
composing all that was either ornamental or useful to a place of 
residence. The lands retained, amounting to nearly a third of 
the value of the whole property sold, were let on leases, like his 
other estates in Forfarshire, which gave little trouble as to manage- 
ment, and could only be regarded as an investment for money. 
He used himself to relate, that after he had resolved to sell 
Airthrey, he sent for Mr. Morison, of Alloa, to survey the estate 
and make an estimate of its value. On the morning when Mr. 
Morison arrived to begin his work, the chapter read in the usual 
course of family worship was the second of Ecclesiastes, con- 
taining the following verses : — " I made me great works ; I builded 
me houses ; I planted me vineyards ; I made me gardens and 
orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruits; I 
made me pools of water." It was impossible not to be struck 
with the coincidence. Mr. Morison was much liked by Mr. 
Haldane, who greatly esteemed his judgment, and always con- 
sulted him about his works at Airthrey, as he did afterwards at 
Auchingray.* His own account of his leaving his estate, in the 
embellishment of which he had taken so much pleasure, runs 
thus : — 

* Mr. Morison was the father of General Sir William Morison, K.C.B., who 
became M.P. for Clackmannan and Kinross, after a brilliant course in India, where 
he attained the rank of Senior Member of Council, and was for some months Acting 
Governor-General. H« owed his original appointment to Sir Ralph Abercromby, 
and the story is worth recording. Sir Ralph was going abroad, and a question 
having arisen as to the division of one of the farms on his father's estate of Tulty- 
body, he consulted Mr. Morison, who undertook to procure a sketch of the fields 
in question. He did so, and S> Ralph was much pleased with the plan ■ and on 
inquiry, he discovered that it was done by his son, then a youth of sixteen. Sir 
Ralph said he should like to have a portable plan of each farm on the estate exe- 
cuted in the same manner, so that, when on foreign service, he might be able to 
correspond with confidence on any question that arose.. The order was executed 
with equal precision and alacrity, and Sir Ralph, who was a great discerner of 
character, discovering that the young man was ambitious of a military appoint- 
ment, procured for him the cadetship which was the means of his attaining fortune 
and distinction. Shortly after Sir William M orison's return from India in 1840, 
the writer of these Memoirs met him both at his own house at Alloa and under the 
late Lord Abercromby's roof at Airthrey. It was pleasing to observe how little Sir 
William had been changed by prosperity. The man who had occupied the palace 
of the Governor-General of India had preserved the lowly mansion of his father un- 
altered, and was delighting himself with the early recollections of his honorable but 



CORRESPONDENCE WITH PROFESSOR ROBISOX. 195 

11 For some time after this I did not lav aside my endeavors to 
get out to Bengal, and in the meanwhile was busied in selling 
my estate, that there might be no delay on my part if obstructions 
from without should be removed. I accordingly at length found 
a purchaser, and with great satisfaction left a place, in the beauti- 
fying and improving of which my mind had been once much 
engrossed. In that transaction I sincerely rejoice to this hour, 
although disappointed in getting out to India. I gave up a place 
and a situation, which continually presented objects calculated to 
excite and to gratify ' the lust of the eye and the pride of life.' 
Instead of being engaged in such poor matters, my time is more 
at my command, and I find my power of usefully applying prop- 
erty very considerably increased. I can truly say I experience 
the accomplishment of the gracious promise, that leaving house 
and lands (although in a very restricted sense), as I trust, for the 
Gospel's sake alone, and what I esteem my duty, I have received 
manifold more, though, as it is added, ' with persecutions.' " 

" The persecutions" here alluded to refer, first and chiefly, to 
the calumnious, and now ridiculous reports, which, in accordance 
with the evil spirit of the times, industriously attributed a demo- 
cratic or revolutionary design to all his movements, whether 
Christian or pMlanthropic. One of these " calumnies" gave rise 
to a curious correspondence with a distinguished Professor of 
Natural Philosophy in Edinburgh. To insert the whole of it 
might be tedious. But as Professor Eobison's reply to Mr. 
Haldane's first letter contained the offer of " satisfaction" in the 
usual way, it is proper to observe how he dealt with this chal- 
lenge. The letters are to be found in Mr. Haldane's '"Address 
on Politics," and are thus introduced : — 

" While there remained any expectation of our going to Bengal 
I did not relinquish the object, but continued to use all proper 
means for that purpose. While I was thus engaged, a very unex- 
pected and cruel attack was made upon me and my associates, in 
a well-known book, published by Professor Eobison, although 
I had never been a Freemason, and knew nothing of the Illu- 
minati. The first calumny was afterwards retracted by him in 

comparatively humble origin. At Airthrey he remarked, that few things had 
struck him more than the reduced size of the rooms, which the vivid impressions 
of his youthful imagination had during absence magnified. He died in 1851, and 
in token of his gratitude to his early patron, left out of his ample fortune a large 
legacy to the grandson of Sir Ralph, the present possessor of Airthrey, Lord Aber- 
cromby. 



196 PROFESSOR ROBISON'S CHALLENGE. 

the newspapers. He introduced this accusation by calling me 
1 a very eminent friend and abettor of Dr. Priestley ;' but lie could 
not have been more unfortunate in his epithet, as there was no 
person to whom I stood more opposed in religious principles, nor 
did I ever agree with him in his political sentiments. I believe 
Dr. Priestley's religious system to be practical Atheism, and that 
it will lead its unhappy votaries to eternal destruction. If a man 
does not acknowledge the God of the Bible, in the emphatic 
language of Scripture, he has made God a bar ; whilst the idea, 
set up in the mind, is a mere caricature of the imagination, and 
no God." 

NO. I. 

"Airthrey, September 21st, 1797. 

" Sir, — I have just been informed that a book, lately published by you, con- 
tains the following paragraph : — 

" ' I grieve that he (Dr. Priestely) has left any of his friends and abettors 
among us. A very eminent one said in company a few days ago, " that he 
would willingly wade to the knees in blood to overturn the establishment of 
the Kirk of Scotland." I understand that he proposes to go to India, and there 
to preach Christianity to the natives. Let me beseech him to recollect, that 
among us Christianity is still considered as the gospel of peace, and that it 
strongly dissuades us from bathing oiir feet in blood.' 

" As it is supposed that I am the person alluded to in these sentences, I must 
request that you will inform me whether it ik v so or not. 

" I am, Sir, &c, &c, 
(Signed) \ "Robert Haldane. 

" To Professor Robison" 

NO. H. 

From Professor Rolison. 

"Stirling, 29th September, 1797. 

• Sir, — I received your favor of the 21st instant on Wednesday, in the coun- 
try, where I have been confined for some time by bad health. The moment I 
received it, I set off for this place to give you all the satisfaction in my power; 

and expected to find here , to whom I have the pleasure of being well 

known. His absence has disappointed my hopes of -a friend, who might be a 
witness of what passed between us. 

' : I do not presume to judge why you suppose that you are the eminent dis- 
ciple of Dr. Priestley alluded to in the passage which you have fairly quoted. I 
have not said that you are ; but I cannot at present give you more satisfaction 
by answering your question, which I am sorry for, because it is required with 
politeness. Could I have found a proper friend to accompany me, I should 
have had an interview; but having had the honor of serving my King and 
country, as an officer in the Royal Navy, for several years, I have the stronger 



MR. haldane's reply. 197 

reasons for being- cautious how I act, and must not yield to my wishes to give 
you more satisfaction at present. 

" I can only say, that, if you still find yourself aggrieved, I am ready with 
my life to give you that satisfaction which one gentleman is entitled to require 
of another. 

" Permit me to say, as an author, that inclination, as well as duty, makes me 
also wish to correct any mistakes that I have fallen into. I am therefore sparing 
no pains to come at the truth of several things which were repeated to me as 
the current talk of the country, both here and in England; and if I find that I 
have misrepresented anything, I will rectify it in the most public manner with- 
out loss of time. But this may require a few days, because my health is very 
indifferent, and I cannot bear the fatigue of travelling without a little interval 
of rest. This may retard, but shall not prevent my discharging, to the utmost 
of my power, the duty that I owe to the public. 

" I am, with due regard, Sir, your most humble servant, 

(Signed) "John Robison. 

"To Robert Haldane, Esq., of Airthrey" 

NO. III. 

Copy of the Answer to the above, dated Airthrey, September 30th, 1797. 

" Sir, — I have this moment received your letter, dated from Stirling. You say 
you do not presume to judge why I suppose that I am the disciple of Priestley 
alluded to in the passage I quoted; by this, seeming to insinuate that it may be 
some other person. I certainly could have no wish to apply to myself such a 
charge as your book brings against one who is desirous, you say, to go to India 
to teach Christianity there, were it possible for either me or my friends to sup- 
pose that you meant any other. It was upon this ground that my supposition 
was founded. If you, however, declare that I was not the person alluded to, 
that is quite sufficient; and, on this supposition, I am certainly entitled to 
require and expect, that you make this declaration (as you know that it is gen- 
erally applied to me) upon every principle of candor and justice. 

" I now beg leave to inform you, that I never made use of such expression 
as the one referred to, nor ever said anything at all like it ; that the sentiment 
appears to me shocking in itself, and the most remote possible from every idea 
I entertain on the subject. No, Sir; I would not spill one drop of human blood 
to support or destroy all the religious establishments in the world. I should 
consider such a way of attempting to advance the interests of Christianity as 
infinitely mad and infinitely wicked. I have, over and over again, declared this, 
both in public and private; and it is well known by all my friends, and those 
who are intimate with me, to be my decided and fixed principle. 

" I observe you say, that if you find you have misrepresented anything, you 
will rectify it in the most public manner, without loss of time. This is all that 
I require; and I have even no objection to your taking some days to gain all 
the information you desire. But then it must be done in the most explicit 
manner. No name should be mentioned, as there is none in your book; but it 
should be said, after quoting the sentence, that the author finds, upon inquiry, 
that it was totally void of foundation, and, therefore, that he takes the earliest 



198 PEOFESSOE EOBISON'S EXPLANATION. 

opportunity of contradicting it. This, or something equivalent, must be put 
into the Scotch newspapers, and a note must also be written to the reviewers, 
lest they retail it. 

" I feel that a regard to myself and associates, as standing, in some measure, 
on public ground, requires this. Had I not been in this situation I should very 
possibly have taken no notice of it, but should have let it pass, with many other 
unfounded calumnies that have been repeated against me. 

" I should also imagine, that, as soon as you are satisfied of the assertion 
being unfounded, your own candor and feelings will dictate the very course 
here pointed out. 

"As to your saying, that, if I feel myself aggrieved, you are ready with your 
life to give that satisfaction which one gentleman is entitled to require of another, 
it appears to me a very strange way of talking in this business. If you have 
publicly repeated a false calumny against one who never interfered with you, 
ought you not to desire, as soon as possible, even without being required, to 
make him reparation by as publicly contradicting it? which is the only rational 
satisfaction that can be obtained or given in such a business. If you mean the 
term, however, in any other acceptation, I must beg to inform you, that, what- 
ever the maxims of the world in such a case might dictate, Christianity, which 
I consider as the gospel of peace, has taught me that it would be no satisfaction 
to bathe either my feet or my hands in your blood. 

" I have only to add, that I think an interview would be very proper ;. and 
that it need not be prevented by your not having a fi lend to accompany you. 
I shall be happy to see you here this day, if you find it convenient. I am per- 
suaded the business might be amicably settled in a few minutes. It is not in 
my power to call upon you, as I am confined to-day by a cold and swelled face. 

" I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 
(Signed) "Robert Haldane. 

u Professor Robison. 

"P.S. — I have not yet seen your book, but am happy to find the passage is 
fairly quoted." 

The servant who carried the last letter, brought it back, "with 
the information that Professor Eobison had left Stirling the day 
before. Mr. Haldane, therefore, inclosed it in a short note to the 
learned gentleman's country residence, Boghall, near Glasgow. 
Before they reached the Professor, Mr. Haldane received the fol- 
lowing letter : — 

NO. IV. 

"Edinburgh, October 2d, 1797. 
' : Sir, — I have not lost a moment's time in my endeavors to perform my 
promise in my letter of the 21st, and have been wheeled from place to place, 
tracing back my authorities for the passage quoted by you from my publica- 
tion, till I am quite exhausted and obliged again to take to my bed. I was in 
hopes of inserting the correction of my mistake in the Edinburgh papers of 



PROFESSOR ROBISOX'S RETRACTATION". 199 

this day, but the particulars of an eager and desultory conversation are so 
twisted and transformed in every repetition, that hardly two accounts agree 
with sufficient precision. I have been at half a dozen places, at a considerable 
distance from each other, in chase, and almost in sight, of the person with 
who^e evidence I shall finish my inquiries, and it will be on Thursday before 
the result can appear. 
"To Robert Haldane, Esq,, of Airthrey." 

In the meantime the Professor promised to insert in the news- 
papers an advertisement, containing a general acknowledgment 
of "a mistake of which he has been guilty in a work just pub- 
lished by him, entitled, ' Proofs of a Conspiracy.' " 

To this Mr. Haldane replied, telling the Professor, that if he 
wished to make reparation, it would not do to insert such a modi- 
fied retractation as would leave the impression that there was some 
foundation, however slight, for the calumny; but that he must 
add, that " nothing could be more abhorrent from the ideas or 
principles of the gentleman alluded to than the sentiments im- 
puted to him." He concludes, "I am sorry that you have trav- 
elled about so quickly as to have injured your health. I would 
much rather have waited some days before the explanation had 
taken place." 

To the handsome terms in which Mr. Haldane expressed him- 
self as ready to save the Professor from the shame of an ignomin- 
ious acknowledgment of his calumny, the Professor writes: — 
"Your letter most agreeably surprised me; and had I known 
what Mr. Haldane could do, I should have saved myself and him 
some trouble." What follows places the tyranny of the world 
and the immorality of duelling in a striking light. The Profes- 
sor's reluctance to confess his error arose from the dread of being 
branded as a coward. When he found that Mr. Haldane had no 
intention of having recourse to pistols, the amiable but hasty 
Professor does not hesitate to make his apology: — 

" I was sensible that I w T as the aggressor, and that your demand was most 
reasonable. The very demand made me suspect that I had misrepresented 
things. Yet I could not answer it without great risk, whatever might be my 
determination to do you justice. It was natural to expect that my refusal 
would draw on me expressions which, by the tyrannical rules of society, I could 
not bea*- with patience, and afterwards show my face in the world, and my wife 
and family would have been involved in my disgrace. I acknowledge that I 
could not bear that thought, and no way occurred to me for preventing this but 
the one I took, and afterwards to meet you or correspond with you, in sight of 
a friend. You will, I dare say, allow, that when I could charge you with the 



200 EEY. ROWLAXD HILL- 

sentiment expressed in my book, these were natural fears. But I womd gladly 
hope that you did not misunderstand me when I said that I would give you 
what the world calls the satisfaction of a gentleman. I can only give you my 
solemn assurance that I never would have added the guilt of hurting you to 
that of slandering you. and that I would have stood your passive mark. I beg 
you to think of my situation, with all the extenuating circumstances that attend 
it. Even if I had had the courage to bear with opprobrious names, how could 
I remove the distress from the wife and children of a coward in the eye of the 
world ? I did not know you, Sir, and my ignorance was innocent, for you were 
much misrepresented. Allow me to say, further, that you might do more ser- 
vice, perhaps, and have as great probability of success, if you would try to 
win over the infidels among ourselves. Also, one of these would, by his influ- 
ence, be of more value than fifty Hindoos. Let me beseech you not to give 
up this thought. There are yet remains of religion among us, and I imagine 
there are still more obstacles in your way in India. The division into castes is 
next to insurmountable ; for a religion which asserts the equality of all in the 
sight of God. will be called rebellion or sedition. But I ask your pardon. 
You have no doubt reflected deeply on it. I can only pray, May God be with 
you, and give you comfort. I am, with sincere wishes for your health and 
happiness, Sir, 

"Your most obedient, humble servant, 

(Signed; "John Robison. 

"Robt. Haldane, Esq., of Airthrey." 

The Professor's final retractation of his error was not so hand- 
some and complete as he had promised. He was ashamed to pro- 
claim to the world the full extent of the error into which he had 
been betrayed, by collecting promiscuous gossip, and publishing 
it under the title of "Proofs of a Conspiracy." It may give 
some idea of the times, when it is remembered that the Professor's 
book was then actually held in high repute. But he was not the 
only person who urged the importance of encountering Infidelity 
at home rather than Paganism abroad. "Whether all were as 
sincere in their exhortations as this learned and amiable but hot- 
tempered philosopher, may well be doubted. But, at all events, 
the advice was not thrown away either on Mr. Haldane or his 
younger brother: and like Mr. James Haldane's tour to the 
north, Mr. Rowland Hill's visit to Scotland had been one of its 
results. The express object of his coming was to open the Circus 
of Edinburgh as a place of preaching. It had been for some 
time used by a congregation belonging to the Relief Secession 
while their own chapel was rebuilding. During this interval the 
preaching of their minister, the Rev. Mi. Struthers had attracted 
much attention, and the novelty of the place, as well as his elo- 
quence, had drawn around him out of all classes of the commu- 



KEY. ROWLAND HILL OPENS THE CIRCUS. 201 

nity, many who had not been previously accustomed to listen to 
the Gospel. Mr. Haldane's own account of the opening of the 
Circus may be found in his "Address," so often cited. The fol- 
lowing is an extract : — 

"The next thing that took place among those plans which 
seemed to have caused alarm, was the employment of the Circus 
as a place of worship, after it had been left by the Eelief congre- 
gation, who first used it as such. A few persons who wished to 
see the interests of religion more extended in Edinburgh, con- 
versed together about forming a Tabernacle there, — a thought 
suggested by a minister from England (Mr. Simeon, it is believed), 
when on a visit to this place, not upon my invitation, but em- 
ployed in preaching in the Established Churches. The general 
idea affixed to these houses called Tabernacles is that of large 
places of worship, where as great variety as possible is kept up 
in the preaching, by employing different ministers, in order to 
excite and maintain attention to the Gospel, especially in such as 
are living in open neglect of religion. Such are the different 
Tabernacles in London, to which, when they were erected about 
fifty years ago, very great opposition was made, and great alarm 
excited. Those of us who met to consult about this business 
were uncertain how such a plan might answer in Edinburgh. 
We therefore invited from England only three ministers at first. 
The Circus, as being a large and commodious place, was engaged 
for a few months, and Mr. Rowland Hill, so well and so long 
known in England as a successful and able preacher of the Gos- 
pel, opened the place. The multitudes that heard him, and the 
spirit of attention that seemed to be excited, encouraged us to 
go on." 

It was on his way to open the Circus that Mr. Rowland Hill 
met Mr. J. A. Haldane and Mr. Aikman at Langholm. He left 
them on the morning of the 27th of July, and on the day follow- 
ing his Journal announces his arrival. Mr. Haldane having then 
no residence at Edinburgh, Mr. Hill was received, as he says, "at 
the hospitable abode of Mr. James Haldane, in George-street,* 
where nothing was wanting but more gratitude and thankfulness 
on my part for such a kind and affectionate reception." Mrs. 

* In the adjoining house, No. 14 George-street, there resided at that time Henry 
Brougham, the future Lord Chancellor of Britain. He was then in his twentieth 
year, having heen born in 1778, in the house where David Hume died, in St. David- 
street, so named after the historian. 



202 BEV. ROWLAND HILL AT LEITH. 

James Haldane fully appreciated the worth of the honored guest, 
whom in her husband's absence she entertained, and always 
spoke with peculiar pleasure of this memorable visit. Next 
morning Mr. Hill opened the Circus, — a fact which he thus 
announces in his Journal : — 

■ - Lord's-day, July 29. — Preached for the first time in the Circus. 
The building is large, and supposed to contain above 2,500 
people. It gave me pleasure to find that expounding, or lecturing, 
as it is there called, is the general practice in Scotland. The rich- 
ness and glory that rest upon the language of inspiration are pe- 
culiar to itself; and I have always found that weighty, warm, 
applicatory remarks immediately therefrom, come with a peculiar 
influence to the heart. Surely, therefore, nothing less than a 
whole chapter, or at least a considerable portion, should be selected 
for these occasions. We are never so assured that we make 
people wise unto salvation, as when we lead them to the pure 
Word of God itself. 

"My morning subject was the prayer of Moses, 'If thy pres 
ence go not with me, carry us not up hence.' (Exodus xxxiii. 
15.) I preached to the people the feelings of my heart. I felt 
the call to this city to be solemn and important. Without our 
God we can do nothing. A much larger congregation attended 
the evening service, and I took another subject just suited to the 
frame of my own mind, 1 Cor. i. 22-24 ; and I employed some time 
in showing Paul's method of treating his proud Corinthian hearers." 

On the Thursday Mr. Hill preached to 2,000 people at Leith, 
in the open air. His text was, " The Son of Man is come to 
seek and to save that which was lost;" and he adds, "Plain Ian 
guage is the only profitable language for sinners like these." On 
Friday, he preached to 4,000 on the Calton Hill. He observes, 
" The loveliness of the situation, the stillness of the evening, 
and the seriousness of the people, produced all that was desirable. 
Oh, for more of the life and unction and power of the Spirit of 
God on my soul, that I may not disgrace -the blessed cause I 
wish to uphold." 

Such was the commencement of the preaching in the Circus, 
which produced so much excitement, but was so little intended 
to interfere with the stated places of worship that the early ser- 
vice at first began in the morning at seven o'clock, and another 
in the evening at six o'clock. 

It was arranged, however, that Mr. Hill should not be idle 



GLASGOW CATHEDRAL. 203 

during the week, and "Mr. Haldane," says the Journal, "kindly 
commenced my companion in travel." Stirling was the first place 
to which Mr. Hill was conducted by his friend, who had then 
scarcely left his own place in the neighborhood. Crieff. Dun- 
keld, and Perth were the next towns where Mr, Hill preached in 
this their first circuit. At Perth he met his old friend, the Eev. 
Mr. Gary, at one time the chaplain to the excellent Lady Glen- 
orchy, of whom Mr. Hill observes: "He is a man universally 
respected, not being less pure and holy in his life and conversa- 
tion than evangelical and sacred in his views of the Gospel." He 
had been licensed as a probationer of the Church of Scotland, 
but was not permitted to enjoy its preferments. Through the 
recommendation of two noblemen, he was presented to the Crown 
living of Brechin, but his evangelical sentiments and holy life 
rebuked the levity and indifference of the Moderate ministers. 
His sentiments were therefore opposed, and he was ultimately 
rejected by the General Assembly, on the pretext he had not 
passed through the seven years' academical attendance then re- 
quired at the Scotch universities. This case produced a strong 
sensation. It was the means of inducing the purchase of the 
chapel for the use of Mr. Gary, and was also one of the occasions 
of the Tabernacle secession. 

From Perth the itinerants proceeded to Kinross, where Lord 
and Lady Balgowny were amongst those who listened to Mr. 
Hill, as he preached to a large congregation under a rising ground, 
on the banks of Lochleven. Having returned to Edinburgh on 
the Saturday after this rapid tour, he preached again in the Cir- 
cus, and set off with Mr. Haldane on Monday morning, so as to 
be in time to preach in the evening in the churchyard of the old 
cathedral of Glasgow. "The scene," he remarks, "was solemn. 
The old cathedral stands externally in perfectly good repair ; and 
much it is to the honor of the city that it should so stand, as it is 
the only one left in a perfect state of preservation in that part of 
the kingdom." " Underneath," he adds, " were the remains, I 
may venture to say, of millions w r aiting for the resurrection. 
Here I stood on a widely-extended space, covered, or nearly cov- 
ered with the living, — all immortals, 5,000 I should suppose, at 
least. What solemn work to address such multitudes ! Who is 
sufficient for these things ? I attempted to illustrate that passage, 
Isaiah ix. 19, ' Thy God thy glory.' Could we but explain to sin- 
ners, and make them feel that God, a God in Christ is their glory, 



204 PREACHES ON THE CALTON HILL. 

and that it is their privilege to glorify God in return, we should 
have more than abundant recompense for all our little toil in a 
work so glorious." 

The above passage discloses something of the secret of Mr. 
Hill's usefulness as a preacher. Those who have merely amused 
themselves with anecdotes illustrative of his humor and eccentri- 
cities knew nothing of the man, nor of the power that accompa- 
nied the word that he proclaimed. Near the spot on which that 
sermon was preached by Eowland Hill is the vault which now 
contains all that was mortal of Eobert Haldane. His dust reposes 
within the walls of that cathedral which Rowland Hill then sur- 
veyed with admiration, whilst he spoke with so much feeling of 
the millions of the dead who were there awaiting the trump of 
the archangel. 

He finally returned to Edinburgh, on Saturday evening, in time 
to preach at the Circus, at seven o'clock in the morning, again at 
eleven o'clock, and in the evening, under the canopy of heaven. 
"It was now," he says, "quite out of the question to preach 
within doors on the Lord's-day evenings. On the Calton Hill I 
addressed the most solemn congregation I have seen for many 
years — fifteen thousand, on the most moderate computation, were 
said to attend, some suppose a larger multitude. I know on these 
occasions one principal aim should be to alarm the sinners. This 
I attempted from Mark viii. 36, 37, from the consideration of the 
immortality of the soul, and the awfulness of eternity." 

Mr. Hill had now officiated for three Lord's-days at the Circus, 
but he was disposed to make another tour through Fife to Dun- 
dee, returning by St. Andrew's. " Hitherto I was favored with 
Mr. Haldane as my companion in travel. His brother, Mr. James 
Haldane, was the kind friend who next conducted me to other 
parts of the country. Our first visit was to Melville House, the 
seat of the Earl of Leven, who scarcely three months before had 
lost his venerable Countess." On the Lord's-day he again preach- 
ed in the Circus and on the Calton Hill to .great congregations, 
the latter supposed to amount to 15,000 or 20,000. On the fol- 
lowing Tuesday he was, from fatigue, unable to preach at Mussel- 
burgh. " Mr. James Haldane," he says, " kindly undertook that 
office on my behalf." His account of his last Lord's day in Edin- 
burgh is a picture of Rowland Hill, his earnestness, his sincerity, 
and zeal, his quaintness, and yet his realizing views of eternity, 
and his dedication of himself to Christ : — 



MR. HILL'S LAST SUNDAY IN EDINBURGH. 205 

" Lord's-day, September 2d. — My last Sabbath in Edinburgh. The Circus 
could scarcely contain the early or noon congregation. I conceived the most 
serious part of the hearers came together like those of old, ' Early, my God, 
will I seek thee.' I therefore dealt with them from that fine prayer of the 
Apostle Paul, Ephesians hi. 16-19. Reader, mark that prayer; who can tell 
the worth of a Bible, if it were only for the sake of those four verses — who can 
describe the blessedness of the man who feels and enjoys its sacred contents ? 

" At the second service, I preached from Genesis xlviii. 22, 23, 24, on Joseph's 
blessing. I thought the subject would well suit the lecture. It is time that 
simple-hearted ministers should bestir themselves. Once was I young, but 
now I begin to be old. I never had too much of the Seraph, but always too 
much of the snail, having been shot at by many an angry archer ; though I fell 
so short I was willing to encourage a young Society to itinerate far and wide. 
May their zeal, guided by the Saviour's wisdom, surprise the north : that many 
a dry formalist may blush for shame under the humiliating reflection, how little 
has been done by them, while so much has been accomplished by instruments 
they so completely despise ! May these be blessed with the boldness of the 
lion — the meekness of the lamb — the wisdom of the serpent — and the harmless- 
ness of the dove. 

" On the evening of the day I preached my last sermon save one in this vi- 
cinity on the Calton Hill (to 18,000). Shame forbade me a thousand times to 
take a text, once the language of Paul, Acts xx. 24. I believe, however, that 
a spark was felt of the same flame which he enjoyed, therefore I ventured. 
Had I a thousand lives, I trust they would be spent in the Lord's blessed work. 
1 dare not be fettered by human laws while I am under a Divine command to 
preach the Gospel to every creature, ' and to spend and be spent for Jesus 
Christ.' 

" I have been somewhat a sufferer by such a conduct, but laws like these ap- 
pear to me not better than the statutes of Omri, and I dare not renounce the 
Lord's standing rule to all his ministers, while under the conjoined promise, ' I 
am with you always, even to the end of the world.' " 

On the 3d of September lie set off for England, " favored with 
the company of Mr. Haldane." At Dunbar, after he had preached 
in the Methodist meeting-house, " Mrs. Cunningham," he pro- 
ceeds, " came to meet us on that occasion, and took us home in 
her carriage. Mr. Cunningham, though a gentleman of fortune, 
dedicated himself to the work of the ministry, and for many 
years has labored in connection with the Anti-burghers. We 
found the order of the house to be hospitality and friendship to 
the very utmost." 

It was on this occasion and at this place, that a circumstance 
occurred, which, with many exaggerations and embellishments, 
has been related as an illustration of the eccentricities of Eowland 
Hill. The story shall be told as related by Mr. Haldane, with 
his usual accuracy. On the "Wednesday morning, after spending 



206 ANECDOTE AT DUXBAE. 

tlie preceding night at Mr. Cunningham's, they were about to 
proceed southward, when Mr. Hill's carriage being brought to 
the door, his horse was found to be dead lame. A farrier was 
sent for, who, after careful examination, reported that the seat of 
the mischief was in the shoulder ; that the disease was incurable, 
and that they might shoot the poor animal as soon as they pleased. 
To this proposal Mr. Hill was by no means prepared to accede. 
Indeed, it seemed to Mr. Haldane as precipitate as the conduct of 
an Irish sailor on board the Monarch, who, on seeing another 
knocked down senseless by a splinter, and supposing his comrade 
to be dead, went up to Captain Duncan, on the quarter-deck, in 
the midst of the action, and exclaimed, " Shall we jerk him 
overboard, Sir? 7 ' On that occasion the sailor revived in a short 
time, and was even able to work at his gun. In the present in- 
stance the horse, too, recovered, and was able to carry his master 
on many a future errand of mercy. Meanwhile, however, the 
travellers availed themselves of Mr. Cunningham's hospitality, 
and remained for two days more at his place, near Dunbar. In 
the evening Mr. Hill conducted prayers at family worship, and 
after the supplications for the family, domestics, and friends, add 
ed a fervent prayer for the restoration of the valuable animal, 
which had carried him so many thousands of miles, preaching 
the everlasting Gospel to his fellow-sinners. Mr. Cunningham, 
who was remarkable for the staid and orderly, if not stiff, de- 
meanor, which characterized the Anti-burghers, was not only 
surprised but grieved, and even scandalized at what he deemed 
so great an impropriety. He remonstrated with his guest. But 
Mr. Hill stoutly defended his conduct by an appeal to Scripture, 
and the superintending watchfulness of Him without whom a 
sparrow falls not to the ground. He persisted in his prayer during 
the two days he continued at Dunbar, and although he left the 
horse in a hopeless state, to follow, in charge of his servant, by 
easy stages, he continued his prayer night and morning, till one 
da}', at an inn in Yorkshire, while the two travellers were sitting 
at breakfast, they heard a horse and chaise trot briskly into the 
yard, and, looking out, saw that Mr. Hill's servant had arrived, 
bringing up the horse perfectly restored. Mr. Hill did not fail to 
return thanks, and begged his fellow-traveller to consider, whether 
the minuteness of his prayers had deserved the censure which 
had been directed against them. 

At Berwick, Alnwick, Newcastle, Dunbar, Leeds, Botherham. 



AFRICAN CHILDREN. 207 

and Sheffield, Mr. Hill successively preached, sometimes in chap- 
els, sometimes in churches, and sometimes in the open air, espe- 
cially at Newcastle, where thousands congregated near the city 
walls. From Sheffield they went by Derby, Coventry, Warwick, 
Painswiek, Wotton-under-Edge, in Gloucestershire, which was 
Mr. Hill's home during the six months in the year that he spent 
out of London. 

During his journey with Mr. Hill through Scotland and into 
Gloucestershire, Mr. Haldane had been deeply pondering on all 
that he saw and heard with reference to Mr. "Whitfield's plans for 
the revival of the Gospel in England. It became more and more 
his desire to attempt something of a decided character for Scot- 
land. His brother's movement in the previous year, and the in- 
creasing success which was attending him as a preacher, still 
further stimulated Mr. Haldane's zeal, and passing through Lon- 
don, he therefore proceeded to Gosport, to consult his old friend, 
Dr. Bogue, as to the aspect of affairs in relation to the kingdom 
of Christ, and his own future operations. The Indian Mission 
was fully and finally abandoned, and plans for building a number 
of chapels throughout Scotland and educating preachers, were 
resolved on and discussed, as is shown by Mr. Haldane's corres- 
pondence, and the events which soon afterwards took place. Nor 
were the poor African children overlooked, as appears from the 
following letter to Mr. Campbell at this time, in consequence of a 
communication which that good man had received from Mr. Ma- 
caula}' : — 

"Gosport, October 6th, 1798. 

"My dear Sir, — I was favored with your letter of the 24th September, 
which had lain some days here before I arrived, and it gives me great joy to be 
informed of its contents. I trust the Lord indeed intends to use us as instru- 
ments in this business ; and, oh ! that he may, by means of it, glorify Himself 
by giving these children the adoption of sons and daughters in his own family, 
and in making use of them to awaken and enlighten others who are sitting in 
great darkness and under the black shadow of death in their own country. 

" Mr. Macaulay's letter is a very sensible one, and he seems cordially to enter 
into the plan, and also to think this time the fittest that could be chosen. In- 
deed, how could it be otherwise, if (as I trust) it has been fixed by Him who 
does all things well ? 

" I think it a favorable circumstance that he has most of the children with 
him, as he will be best able to judge of natural tempers and dispositions, 
which it is of great consequence to be attended to. I forget the age we fixed 
upon, but think about twelve years old the best; and he seems to say the 
same, towards the end of his letter. Were they to come much earlier they 



might forget their native tongue, which I should consider a great loss. It will 
be of the greatest consequence that most of them be the children of the chief 
people in the country, and who are most likely to succeed in the Governments, 
as they, in the course of Providence, will have much more in their power in 
diffusing the knowledge, both of Divine truth and of civilization, than a great 
number of any other rank. They may make as good smiths and carpenters at 
Sierra Leone as at Edinburgh, but the manners of civilized life, which are in- 
timately connected with the diffusion of the Gospel, can be best learned here. 
I am persuaded Mr. M. must be very sensible of this. Tell him, by no means, 
if possible, to fall below the number fixed, but rather to exceed it. I do not 
think, however, that the number of girls should be much increased, as there are 
many temptations in their way, and it would increase the expenses, as the 
mode of their education must differ. As to inoculation, my reason for having 
it done there was, that no blame might attach if any of the children should die 
under it, so as to prevent others from coming home ; but this, it seems, cannot 
be done there, but must be as Mr. M. proposes. 

" If possible, there should be some provision for ten or twelve following 
every year, to make a regular rotation and keep it up ; but all these things we 
must leave to Mr. M., and it is happy we are in so good hands. At all events, 
I repeat it, he may exceed, but let him not come short of the number. So much for 
Africa. 

" You say that churches were provided in Glasgow. It would be much better 
if you would provide fields." 

Mr. Campbell, in Ms "Autobiography," states, that, "for two 
long years he heard not a syllable from Africa." But this only 
shows how little reliance is to be placed on history depending on 
the memory of an individual. The letter from Mr. Haldane, 
guaranteeing the payment of all the charges, still exists, and is 
dated 30th March, 1798. Within six months from that date Mr. 
Macaulay's reply to Mr. Campbell had arrived, and it will pres- 
ently be seen that Mr. Campbell found the children in London 
in the month of June, 1799. 

Soon afterwards a journal of Mr. Hill's tour was published by 
that zealous clergyman, which gave great offence. This little 
volume consisted of two parts ; the first of which contained the 
dedication to " Kobert Haldane, Esq.," as the person at whose 
invitation he both ventured on his visit to Scotland and now 
printed his "Journal." It concludes thus: — 

" I trust, my dear Sir, it is the prayer of my heart that you may be blessed 
with the most abundant success in all your attempts to promote the glory of 
God and the salvation of mankind. And may your brother and his worthy 
colleague, Mr. Aikman, in their disinterested zeal and the devotedness of their 



MR. HILL'S ADDRESS TO MR. J. A. HALDANE. 209 

spirits, continue to preach Jesus among thousands in those parts where multi- 
tudes are perishing in complete ignorance, till they are crowned with all the 
success their hearts could wish. 

" I am, with much affection, 
" Yours, in the love and fellowship of the Gospel, 

" Rowland Hill." 

The second part, which contained his strictures, both on the 
Established and Secession Churches in Scotland, was that which 
gave most umbrage ; and it was prefaced by the following char- 
acteristic dedication, wdiich embodies so much of eccentric humor 
with solemn seriousness as to afford a better portraiture of the 
mind and character of Eowland Hill than many of the elaborate 
efforts of affectionate biographers. It is addressed, 

" To James Haldane, Esq. 

" My dear Sir, — Or rather, my much respected brother and fellow-laborer in 
the Gospel of God our Saviour ! Directed by my high esteem of your brother, 
I ventured on the publication of my. ' Journal.' From my respect to your 
ministerial labors, I am now happy to address these remarks on my visit to 
Scotland to your more immediate attention. I am now an old stager in the 
itinerant's work, and I bless God for the line in which I have been called, being 
assured I have followed the will of God therein ; and I am satisfied the salva- 
tion of many souls has been promoted thereby. 

In preaching through England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, I always con- 
ceived / stuck close to my parish. We are to ' preach the Gospel to every 
creature, even to the end of the world.' Go on, my dear Sir, be the maul of 
bigotry, and of every sectarian spirit among all denominations; declare ven- 
geance against the unscriptural innovations of narrow-minded bigots, who, finding 
the Word of God uncompliant to designs like theirs, have combined together 
to support their dogmas, according to certain rules of their own creating ; and 
all these as contrary to the sacred designs of God, that all Christians should be 
brethren and love as such, as the designs of Christianity can be to those of 
Mahomet, the Pope, or the devil. 

"In the name of God, my beloved brother, with the sword of the Spirit in 
your hand and the life of God in your heart, pursue those hideous monsters 
even unto death. 

"But you have given sufficient evidence how much you respect the Christian 
wheresoever you find him and however disfigured, not only by the wart, but 
by the wen of bigotry. 

" I will not say that to a fraction all my observations on this subject may 
correctly comport with yours, though I flatter myself you and I are pretty near 
the mark, if we differ. I am sure we cannot disagree. Our hearts, I am per- 
suaded, are congenial, though our original calling was completely different. 

" You were educated for the maritime life, and from a situation creditable 
and lucrative, commenced a peddling preacher, crying your wares from town to 
town at a low rate, indeed 'without money and without price,' and scattering 

14 



210 ME. HILL'S JOURNAL. 

religious tracts as you travel from place to place ; while it was my lot to be bred 
to the trade and to serve a regular apprenticeship for the purpose ; but, being 
spoilt in the manufacturing, I never received but forty shillings — a story too 
trivial to relate — by my own occupation as a Churchman. Affluence is a snare ; 
a decent independent competence is a blessing, — a blessing, indeed, if thereby 
we can preach Jesus freely, and prove to the poor of the flock that we can 
sacrifice our own profit if we can be profitable to-them. 

" Let it, then, be our glory to surfer shame and contempt for the sake of Him 
who ' hid not his face from shame and spitting' for our redemption ; ' holding 
forth the Word of life amidst the dead in trespasses and sins ;' meekly content- 
ed to suffer even ' the loss of all things,' should we meet with such a day of 
tribulation, provided we are but enabled ' to win Christ' and are blessed ' with 
souls for our hire.' 

" With much sincerity of affection, I am, and ever hope to remain, your affec- 
tionate brother and fellow-laborer in the Gospel of our salvation, 

"Rowland Hill." 

Mr. Hill was, by education and by principle, attached to an 
Established Church, and esteemed the Church of England, with 
its Articles, Liturgy, and Formularies, far beyond any other 
denomination ; but it was such " a reduced Episcopacy" that he 
desired "as was recommended by the Archbishops Usher and 
Leighton." He greatly preferred it to Scottish Presbytery ; and, 
referring to the Cameronians, denounced the old Solemn League 
and Covenant, as containing more of bigotry and persecution 
than the Act of Uniformity. He then glances at the Secession 
Church, founded by the two Erskines ; afterwards divided 
amongst themselves into Burghers and Anti-burghers, with refer- 
ence to the lawfulness and unlawfulness of the Burgess oath. 
Next, the Relief Secession comes under review ; a body that arose 
out of the grievance of patronage, and which then contained 
sixty-seven congregations, whilst the Burghers had 123, and the 
Anti-burghers 125. 

Having dealt somewhat roughly with the peculiarities and 
"bigotry" of all the Presbyterian bodies, he devotes a passing 
note to the Scottish Episcopalians, which was, of course, at that 
time anything but complimentary. He describes them as allied 
to the Moderates in their evangelical doctrine, and adds, "As a 
proof of this, that good and truly spiritual and respectable man, 
Mr. Simeon, of Cambridge, being asked to preach but once in 
their chapels, after one sample given was asked no more, though 
he strictly adhered to a most regular conduct, so far as only 
preaching in the Established churches deserves that name. And, 
if the prevailing whisper be true, he is, on the next Meeting of 



MR. HILL ON LAY PREACHING. 211 

the General Assembly, likely to meet with a very coarse compli- 
ment for his regularity. Not that the thunderbolt of their high 
priestly indignation will be levelled directly against him, — a slant 
stroke will do the business the most effectually."' 

Having also lashed " the Moderates" in the Church of Scotland, 
describing them as " moderate in religion" " moderate in their no- 
tions of Christ," " moderate in their use of their Bibles," " moderate 
in their love to God," and practically teaching the people to be 
" moderate in their morality," he next assails the Baptists and 
Independents, concerning whom, as his " brethren," he expresses 
his thankfulness that they had never been, as yet, ftivored with 
the "civil sword," and therefore never tempted to persecute. He 
considers Congregationalism to be a modem innovation, which 
took its first rise in the Church at the beginning of the seven- 
teenth century, when good men, disgusted with the turbulent 
political preachers of the times, were induced to retire from the 
strife and congregate among themselves. 

Scarcely has he done with the faults of his "Independent and 
Baptist brethren,'' than Mr. Hill turns round once more on the 
High Church Episcopalians, blames their unwarrantable preten- 
sions to apostolic succession, and states the advantage of reviving 
the apostolic injunction: "Exhort one another daily while it is 
called to-day." " By this primitive mode of procedure," he adds, 
" a great number of very valuable ministers have been raised up, 
some from the army, others from the navy. We bless God for 
the names of a Captain Scott and a Captain Joss ; for captains 
may have tongues and brains and grace as well as doctors, and 
men of inferior ranks in the same line, if not superior, have been 
equal to them in a wise conduct, a holy walk, and extended use- 
fulness in the ministry of the word. Others also shall I mention ? 
Stonemasons, butchers, tailors, shopkeepers, and shoemakers, 
and a certain tinker, who lived a century and a half ago (the 
Right Rev. Bishop Bunyan, the apostle of Cambridgeshire and 
Bedfordshire, and, though a Baptist, admitted all to communion 
with him whom he believed to be children of God), — all of whom 
gave evidence that grace, good sense, and knowledge of the 
Word of God may so far possess the minds of plain mechanics, 
as to render them abundantly useful, at least in their own 
sphere" &c. 

Having thus launched out into a variety of animadversions on 
Episcopalians and Presbyterians, Baptists and Independents, all 



212 RECOMMENDS THE ERECTION OF TABERNACLES. 

of whom he considers as having some shred of Popery, which he 
terms the "incurable abomination," Mr. Hill proceeds to give his 
advice as to what should be done for Scotland. " If," he says, in 
Edinburgh, " another place of worship should be built, what 
should be its glory ? Let it embrace .all who love the Lord Jesus, 
and be the centre of union among them who are now disunited. 
Let it, then, be called the Union Church, and let her prove she 
deserves the name. Let her pulpit be open to all ministers who 
preach and love the Gospel, and her communion equally open to 
all who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity. I would allot at least 
half the area of the Church to the poor, that they may attend it 
with as much freedom as they attend a field preaching." 

Other admonitions he gives as to an ideal Church, which was 
to be a kind of Evangelical Alliance of all the disciples of Christ. 
It was in journeying with Mr. Hill that Mr. Haldane conceived 
the idea of opening other places of worship at Glasgow and 
Dundee as well as at Edinburgh. So far as these schemes were 
confined to the conversion of sinners, they were blessed in a way 
which commended them, in a greater or less degree, to the appro- 
bation of such men as Mr. Newton, Mr. Simeon, and Mr. Scott. 
But so far as they involved a new system of ecclesiastical polity, 
in the end they signally failed. To the poor the Gospel was 
preached ; sinners were saved, and Christ was glorified. But when 
new Churches were established on the fancied model of primitive 
times, they only flourished for a time. In 1799 they braved the 
artillery of the General Assembly's pastoral admonition, fulmi- 
nated against them like a Bull from the Yatican, and they rose 
unscathed by the anathemas levelled at them by the Presbyterian 
seceders. It was when opposition from without died away that 
the internal instability appeared. The sequel of this narrative 
will exhibit the self-devoted zeal of men of God, and may stimu- 
late others to multiply City Missions and Scripture-readers. But 
probably it will rather tend to abate the ardor of those who, like 
Bowland Hill in 1798, think it as easy to reform wisely as to 
censure sharty, to apply the antidote as well as to indicate the 
disease, whether practical or theoretic, in any system of eccle- 
siastic polity. 



CHAPTER X. 

[1799.] 

The plan for educating the children of African chiefs was but 
an episode in the midst of Mr. Haldane's efforts for the extension 
of the kingdom of Christ. His correspondence on his journey 
with Mr. Hill shows how his mind was directed towards the objects 
and welfare of the Circus and of the Society for Propagating the 
Gospel at Home. Mr. Parsons, of Leeds, Mr. Boden, of Sheffield, 
Mr. Burder, of Coventry, Mr. Slatterie, of Chatham, Mr. Simpson, 
of Hoxton, Mr. Taylor, of Ossett, Mr. Griffin, of Portsea, are 
amongst the names of those who were invited to preach in the 
Circus. The difficulty, however, of obtaining a regular supply 
of ministers was considerable, and for the Society suitable Evan- 
gelists could not easily be found. It was under these circum- 
stances that, when in England in the year 1798, Mr. Haldane 
conceived the idea of educating a number of pious young men 
for the ministry, who might be selected, as in primitive times, 
from the various occupations of life, on account of their piety and 
promising talents, and receive instruction with a view to the 
ministry. Natural ability was to be one requisite, but evidences 
of a state of grace were to be the first and indispensable con- 
sideration. With the exception of his brother, the only person 
to whom he at first communicated his intention was Mr. Campbell ; 
and at the end of the letter, dated 6th October, 1798, already 
cited, relative to the African children, he thus writes : — " I intend 
to give one year's education to ten or twelve persons, of any age 
that may be fit for it, under Mr. Bogue, with a view to the 
ministry. Will you and my brother be looking out for suitable 
persons to be ready by the time I return ?" This marks the origin 
of those seminaries for preparing Evangelists, which were after- 
wards carried out by Mr. Haldane on so great a scale. 



214 CIRCUS CHURCH. 

But there was another circumstance connected with Mr. Hal- 
dane's visit to England which was contemporaneous and associated 
with the institution of the Seminary, namely, the erection of 
places of worship, after the manner of Whitfield's tabernacles, in 
different parts of Scotland. He reckoned that he might certainly 
calculate on his brother to supply the Edinburgh tabernacle, 
whilst possibly Mr. Ewing and Mr. Innes might occupy two 
other chapels, the one to be provided or erected in Glasgow, the 
other in Dundee. 

The announcement of Mr. Haldane's determination to erect 
tabernacles, after the Whitfield model, in the great towns in Scot- 
land, was followed by events which added to the prevailing ex- 
citement in the public mind. No sooner had he returned from 
Grosport, than, after fully conferring with his brother, he next 
proposed his plans to Mr. Ewing and Mr. Innes. On the 29th of 
November a sermon was preached by Mr. Ewing, in Lady Gle- 
norchy's Chapel, Edinburgh, on the duty of implicit obedience 
to human authority in civil matters, although, in regard to religion, 
Christians ought only to obey God ; and on the Saturday follow- 
ing, December 1st, Mr. Ewing resigned his charge, and retired 
from the communion of the Church of Scotland. Next Lord's- 
day that minister remained in retirement, but on the 14th of 
December he undertook a short tour to Dunkeld, from which Mr. 
J. Haldane had just returned, bearing the tidings of a large 
spiritual harvest. Mr. Ewing's secession, although thus sudden 
at the last, was not wonderful ; for no one can even now peruse his 
earliest contributions to the " Missionary Magazine" without seeing 
that his principles in regard to Ecclesiastical polity, like those of 
his Baptist friend, Dr. Stuart, strongly tended to Congrega- 
tionalism. The storm that had been excited against Mr. Simeon, 
Mr. Hill, the Itinerants, and the Circus, quickened his move- 
ments, and his adhesion to Mr. Haldane's plan, in regard to Glas- 
gow, was sealed by the resignation of his place in the Establish- 
ment. A few days afterwards, about twelve of the parties 
principally interested in the Circus and the Society for Propa- 
gating the Gospel at Home, including the two brothers, Mr. 
Ewing, Mr. Aikman, Mr. Campbell, Mr. George Gibson, and Mr. 
John Kitchie, began to meet in private for consultation, when, 
after prayer and deliberation, they resolved to form themselves 
into a Congregational Church. Mr. Ewing, as most familiar with 
such matters, was requested to draw out a plan for its govern- 



ME. AIOIAN'S ACCOUNT OF IT. 215 

merit, and, after repeated conferences, they with one voice invited 
Mr. J. A. Haldane to be their pastor. Hitherto he had aspired 
to no other office than that of an Evangelist, preaching in the 
villages round Edinburgh, occasionally making distant and ex- 
tensive tours, and more recently, drawing around him crowds of 
attentive listeners on the Calton Hill. But having given himself 
wholly to the study of the word, " meditating upon these things," 
he had become "mighty in the Scriptures;" "his profiting had 
appeared to all;" whilst his unction in prayer, the solemn and 
unpretending eloquence of his pointed, direct, and telling addresses, 
his persevering zeal and remarkable success, his unwearied attend- 
ance on the sick, and his spotless consistency of practice, seemed 
to mark him out as " a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost," 
well qualified for the pastoral office. It was not, however, without 
deliberation that he accepted the call, nor until he had explained 
that he considered his own gifts to be better adapted for the office 
of an Evangelist. But the call being persisted in, he }delded to 
what he deemed the voice of Providence, and assumed a post 
from the labors and responsibilities of which he never shrunk for 
the remaining years of his active and eventful life. 

Mr. Aikman, who was one of the few who composed the origi- 
nal Circus Church, and was afterwards himself ordained co-pastor, 
has given the following account of the principles on which it was 
formed : — 

"The chief principle which influenced the minds of the brethren who, I be- 
lieve, constituted the majority of the small company first associated for observing 
Divine ordinances in the Circus, was the indispensable necessity of the people 
of God being separated in religious fellowship from all such societies as permit- 
ted visible unbelievers to continue in their communion. This was a yoke under 
which we had long groaned ; and we hailed, with gratitude to God, the arrival 
of that happy day when we first enjoyed the so much wished for-privilege of 
separating from an impure communion, and of uniting exclusively with those 
whom it was meet and fit that we should judge to be all the children of God. 
Some of our dearest brethren, however, did not unite with us on this principle. 
They were attached, indeed, to the fellowship of the saints, and would by no 
means consent to the admission of any amongst us who did not appear to be 
such; yet they were not then convinced of the absolute unlawfulness of their 
continuing in connection with societies confessedly impure. Our brethren 
were well aware of our decided difference of sentiment, not only respecting the 
great inconsistency, but also unlawfulness, of any persons connected with us 
continuing to go back to the fellowship of those societies from which they had 
professed to separate, and they knew that our forbearance did not imply any 
approbation of this conduct. Persuaded, however, that they did not intend by 



216 THE NEW CHUECH. 

this to countenance anything they judged to be contrary to the mind of Christ, 
we deemed it our duty to forbear, in the hope that that Saviour, whom we trust- 
ed it was their supreme desire to serve and to please, would grant us the happi- 
ness of being like-minded in this as in our other views of promoting the honor 
of his adored name." 

The simplicity of the motives which influenced these holy men 
can never be disputed by those who marked their public course, 
or more narrowly watched their private walk with God. But 
whether the attempt succeeded, — whether it indeed secured that 
purity of communion after which they panted, — is a question 
which it might not be difficult to answer, but one which it is not 
the object of these pages to discuss. 

Nearly three years subsequent to the opening of the Circus as 
a place of worship, Mr. Haldane gives the following account of it 
in his " Address to the Public :" — 

" After some time a Church was formed, of which, at first, we had no inten- 
tion. The Gospel continues to be preached in the Circus to this day in an 
earnest and faithful manner. With respect to the doctrines taught, they are 
essentially the same as those contained in the Confession of Faith, and in the 
Articles of the Church of England, and preached by those in the Church of 
Scotland denominated Evangelical or. Gospel ministers. The form of Church 
government is what has been called Congregational, a form long known and 
acted upon in England. A strict discipline is maintained. The characters of 
all persons admitted as Church members are particularly examined, and great 
numbers have been rejected, either from ignorance of the Gospel, or from not 
appearing to maintain a becoming walk and conversation. Disloyalty, as being 
one of those things which are contrary to the express precepts of Scripture and 
to the spirit of Christianity, would be a complete disqualification, and some have 
been rejected on this very ground. The Church members are exhorted to watch 
over each other in love ; if any one be overtaken in a fault, he is reproved, but 
if convicted of departing from the faith of the Gospel, of deliberate immorality, 
or allowed and continued indulgence in sin, he is put away, and restored only 
upon credible proofs of repentance. Such regulations we believe to be accord 
ing to Scripture, and calculated to promote edification. 

" After a trial for a considerable time, I must say I rejoice in this Institution. 
Many advantages, I think, have attended it. At the Circus the seats are free to 
all ; the ministers at present who officiate, either statedly or occasionally, as 
those from England in summer, receive no pay for their labors, and all sorts of 
people are welcome, without either expense or inconvenience. By this means 
many in Edinburgh, I believe, have attended the worship of God, who, although 
they could afford it, would not have been at the trouble to procure a seat in any 
church where they are let. I have heard of several such people coming first 
from curiosity, or because they got a place without difficulty or expense, who 
afterwards have become sensible of the value of the preaching of the Gospel. 
I have heard of others who had been violent in their political sentiments, and 



THE CIRCUS CHURCH. 217 

abusive against the Government (not belonging to the Circus Church, for such 
would not be admitted there, but among the hearers), who, after attending there 
some time, have learned to respect lawful authority, ' to forbear speaking evil 
of dignities,' and to turn their attention from other men's faults to the corrup- 
tions of their own hearts. I have understood that ale-houses had been emptied 
and shut up, which used to be full on the Lord's-day, by the frequenters of 
them going to the Circus. There are, besides, many serious people who attend 
regularly, from deliberate preference of it to other places. In the evenings, 
also, a large place is thus open when most other churches are shut, and many 
stragglers occasionally drop in. Upon the other hand, I am often grieved when 
I think of the difficulty of procuring seats, almost to the total exclusion of the 
poor, in many churches of Edinburgh ; and that so many of these, especially 
when they are collegiate charges, are shut up in the evenings, when they might 
be occupied, and the seats free. I am sure I shall be happy, as I often declare, 
to see the Circus thinned in the evenings, by more places of worship being 
opened. If good be done, and sinners converted to Jesus Christ, I care not 
where it may be." 

The Tabernacle, or Circus Church, having been constituted in 
the month of January, 1799, no less than 310 persons almost im- 
mediately signified their desire to unite in its communion. Of 
these, however, thirty continued members of the Establishment, 
and only desired to be admitted occasionally to the Lord's table 
by their Circus brethren. Not a few of these 310 were persons 
who were first led to behold Christ as their Saviour by the preach- 
ing, in and around Edinburgh, of Mr. J. A. Haldane himself, or 
of Mr. Eowland Hill. But a very considerable number were old 
established Christians, who had grown up under the admirable 
teaching of Dr. Erskine, Mr. Black, Dr. Colquhoun, Dr. Walter 
Buchanan, and other faithful ministers of the Established Church, 
who could not be expected to look with satisfaction on this se- 
cession. 

Mr. J. A. Haldane's ordination took place on the 3d February, 
1799, being the Lord's-day. It was * an occasion memorable for 
its solemnizing influence, and the impression it produced upon 
crowds of spectators. A sketch, from the pen of Mr. Ewing, is 
given of this event in the " Missionary Magazine," from which 
the following extracts are taken : — 

" On Sabbath, the 3d of February, Mr. James Haldane was ordained in the 
Circus of this city to be pastor of a Church which has been recently formed 
here on the Congregational plan, and in connection with the institution of a 
Tabernacle. By desire of the Church, the service was conducted by Messrs. 
Taylor, of Osset, Yorkshire ; Garie, of Perth ; and Ewing, of Edinburgh, minis- 
ters of the Gospel. Mr. Taylor began by giving out a part of Psalm cxxii. He 



218 ME. J. A. HALDANE'S ORDINATION. 

then prayed, and read the following- portions of Scripture, as suited to the pecu 
liar occasion of the meeting 1 , viz., Isaiah Ixii., Ezek. xxxiii. 1 — 11,1 Tim. iii. . 
after which he gave out the remainder of Psalm cxxii. He next introduced the 
solemn business of the day by preaching an appropriate sermon from John 
xviii. 36, — 'Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom 
were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered 
to the Jews ; but now is my kingdom not from hence.' 

" After sermon, Mr. Ewing gave out the 64th hymn of the second book of 
Dr. Watts's hymns, entitled ' God the glory and the defence of Sion.' 

" ' Happy the Church, thou sacred place, 
The seat of thy Redeemer's grace ; 
Thine holy courts are His abode, 
Thou earthly palace of our God. 

" ' Thy walls are strength, and at thy gates 
A guard of heavenly warriors waits ; 
Nor shall thy deep foundations move, 
Fix'd on His counsels and His love,' &c, &c 

" Mr. Garie of Perth, next went into the pulpit, and after prayer and a short 
introduction, solemnly asked Mr. Haldane the following questions : — 

"1st. As an unconverted ministry is allowed to be a great evil, will you, 
Sir, be pleased to favor us with some account of the dealing of God with your 
soul? 

" 2dly. Will you inform us what are the circumstances and motives which 
have led you to preach the Gospel, and to desire to engage in the work of the 
ministry ? 

" 3dly. Will you favor us with your views of the leading truths of the 
Gospel? 

" 4thly. Will you explain your views and purposes respecting the duties and 
trials before you in the pastoral office ? 

" To these questions Mr. Haldane replied at considerable length, and in a 
manner that seemed to make a very deep and general impression. His account 
of the dealings of God with him contained a historical sketch of his whole life, 
in which there appears to have been many remarkable displays of providential 
mercy, as well as the most satisfying evidence of a saving change. His account 
of the circumstances and motives which concurred in leading him to preach the 
Gospel, were such as, in the unanimous opinion of the Church, and of many 
others, established a very clear call to the work of the ministry. The declara- 
tion of his faith was scriptural, explicit, and uncommonly striking. His views 
and purposes as to the work before him shewed a strong sense of insufficiency, 
and a becoming dependence on promised Divine aid. Mr. Haldane here ex- 
pressed his intention of endeavoring to procure a regular rotation of ministers 
to assist him in supplying the Tabernacle. He declared his willingness to open 
his pulpit for the occasional labors of every faithful preacher of the Gospel, of 
whatever denomination or country he might be. He signified his approbation 
of the plan of the Church which had chosen him for their pastor, as being sim- 
ple and scriptural, but disavowed any confidence in it as a perfect model of a 
Church of Christ, to the exclusion of all others. He wished to remember him- 



ORDINATION SERVICE. 219 

self, and ever to remind his hearers, that the kingdom of heaven was not meat 
and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Finally, 
he declared that he meant not to confine his exertions to that Church, but to 
devote a portion of his time, every year, to the labors of itinerancy, to which 
he conceived himself, in the providence of God, to be especially called." 

Thus far the " Missionary Magazine." Happily the notes of 
Mr James Haldane's answers to the ordination questions were 
found among his papers in a drawer where they had lain undis- 
turbed for nearly forty years. The substance of his reply to the 
first question, concerning " God's dealings with his soul," has been 
already inserted in the account given of his early life and con- 
version to God. The answer to the second question, as to his mo- 
tives in engaging in the work of the ministry, is shorter. 

" For some time after I knew the truth, I had no thoughts to- 
wards the ministry. My attention was directed to the study of 
the Scriptures, and other religious books, for my own improve- 
ment, and because I found much pleasure in them. When I first 
lived in my own house, I began family worship on Sabbath even- 
ings. I was unwilling to have it more frequently, lest I should 
meet with ridicule from those with whom I was acquainted. A 
conviction of duty at length determined me to begin to have it 
every morning, but I assembled the family in another room for 
some time, lest any one should come in. I gradually got over 
this fear of man, and being desirous to instruct those who lived 
in my family, I began to expound the Scriptures. I found this 
very pleasant and edifying to myself, and this has been one chief 
mean by which the Lord prepared me for speaking in public. 
About this time, some of my friends remarked that I would by 
and by become a preacher. A person asked me whether I did 
not regret that I had not been a minister, which made a consider- 
able impression on my mind. I began secretly to desire to be al- 
lowed to preach the Gospel, which I considered as the most im- 
portant, as well as honorable, employment. I began to ask of God 
to send me into his vineyard, and to qualify me for the work. 
This desire continued to increase, and although I had not the 
most distant prospect of its being gratified, — and sometimes in 
prayer my unbelieving heart suggested it could not be, — I had 
then no idea of going to the highways and hedges, and telling 
sinners of the Saviour. However, I entertained some distant 
hope that the Lord would direct. Some things which passed in 
conversation tended to increase my expectation, and a journey I 



220 ORDINATION SERVICE. 

proposed to take to the north, with a view of establishing Sabbath- 
schools, at length opened a prospect of being allowed to speak for 
Jesus. The success of a journey to the west country increased 
my desire of going through the north, not to preach, but to estab- 
lish schools, while I was to be accompanied by a minister from 
England (Mr. Kate), who should preach in the towns and villages. 
Before we set out, our plan was enlarged. Another brother (Mr. 
Aikman), with whom I had become particularly intimate in a 
prayer-meeting, who had studied for the ministry, agreed to ac- 
company us, and both he and I began to preach in a neighboring 
village about the same time. The journey to the north is pretty 
generally known, and ever since the Lord allowed me to speak of 
him to others, I have found increasing pleasure in the work, and 
seen, I hope, more of the inward workings of my corrupt heart, 
while I have found His grace sufficient. The Church which 
has been lately formed were pleased to invite me to be their pas- 
tor. The charge I would accept, in dependence on the grace of 
Jesus Christ, not, however, relinquishing the idea of laboring as 
an itinerant, to which I think the Lord has especially called me." 

Mr, Ewing states that the answers to the third question, in re- 
gard to views of doctrine, were uncommonly striking, but it 
is to be regretted that the notes are exceedingly scanty. Their 
brevity indicates how firmly the speaker already felt himself 
established in an acquaintance with the great truths of Scrip- 
ture. 

" The Scriptures reveal God. Three bear witness in heaven, 
might be known by his works, man perfect, now lost, root unholy, 
prone to evil. Enmity against God. Willingly ignorant. God 
pitied. The Gospel preached. In the fulness of time God sent 
forth Word made flesh. Jesus Christ is the true God as well as 
man ; suffered wrath due to us ; died, rose, ascended, ever liveth. 
The necessity of regeneration produced by Holy Spirit, which, 
shed on us through Christ ; he had received the Spirit beyond 
measure, and all his members are partakers. Baptism, Lord's 
Supper, Justification, Sanctification, Election." 

These brief notes sufficiently indicate his views of doctrine, 
which he consistently held, without swerving, to the end of life. 

The notes of his answer to the fourth question are as follows : — 

" I consider the Christian life as a warfare. There is a constant 
struggle between the flesh and the Spirit, and renewed supplies 
of strength are constantly necessary from Jesus Christ. This is 






ORDINATION SERVICE. 221 

peculiarly the case in the ministerial work. No man is sufficient 
for these things. A minister, in an especial manner, should 
habitually cherish a spirit of humility and dependence on the 
head of the Church. His situation and temptations are peculiar; 
he- must not only keep his body under, and bring it into subjec- 
tion, lest, preaching to others, he be himself cast away; but he 
must watch over the flock over which the Holy Ghost has made 
him overseer, as one who would give an account. I do not expect 
my trials to be few, but to meet with many difficulties, especially 
if the Lord should honor me in the work. I should desire to 
give myself much to the Word of God and prayer, to study the 
Scriptures with attention, that my doctrine may ever be agreeable 
to the Word of God, and that I may rightly divide it, giving a 
portion to all who may attend my ministry. It should be my 
study to comfort the feeble-minded, and to lead the weak to the 
rock of ages. I should endeavor to alarm the careless, reprove 
the backsliders, and to edify the body of Christ. To instruction, 
I should desire to add my example in every Christian grace, never 
rendering railing for railing, but in meekness, instructing those 
who oppose the truth. I should wish to act with tenderness to 
all who profess the faith of the Gospel, to possess much of that 
love, which thinketh no evil, and which covereth a multitude of 
sins. To bear with those who are weak in the faith, and may 
manifest an improper spirit on any occasion, to point out their 
error in love and meekness, and to be patient and gentle towards 
all men. To study to get acquainted with the cases of those 
amongst whom I minister, that I may speak to them a word in 
season, in public or private. To visit the sick and afflicted, and 
sympathize with all, but especially with the friends of Jesus 
as members of the same body. To study to maintain the ordi 
nances of Christ pure. To study that discipline be maintained 
without preferring one above another. To exhort or reprove 
agreeably to the commands of Christ and his apostles, and espe 
cially to endeavor to cultivate a spirit of love, not only amongst 
our own members, but in myself, and then towards every disciple 
of Jesus. I consider all Christians as members of one body, and 
that schisms and divisions consist in giving way to or cherishing 
a narrow party spirit. I consider the constitution of this Church 
to be plain and scriptural ; but I dare not turn my back on those 
who, holding the head, differ in lesser matters. I would desire 
to remember that the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but 



222 ORDINATION SERVICE. 

righteousness; and that the Christian who is most spiritually- 
minded is acting most agreeably to the will of his Father in heaven. 
I value purity of communion as calculated to promote much 
spirituality; but can easily suppose, what often happens, that 
men, while gazing on, admiring, and adjusting the scaffolding, 
forget the building. I shall cheerfully bid every minister of 
Christ God speed, and hope our pulpits shall never be shut 
against any who teach the apostles' doctrine. Agreeably to our 
rules, I shall gladly receive, as an occasional communicant, every 
brother in Christ, whether he be of the Establishment, or of any 
other denomination of Christians. I shall endeavor to point out 
to parents, children, subjects, and others, their respective duties, 
and ever to maintain the necessary connection of a knowledge 
and belief of the truth with purity and holiness. Finally, as it 
is proposed that a tabernacle should be united with the Church, 
I shall study to get supplies of such ministers as may be most 
calculated to rouse the careless, and edify believers. This will, 
of course, afford me time to preach the Gospel in the highways 
and hedges, which, I trust, I shall gladly embrace, testifying to 
all repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 
I lay my account with trials and difficulties in the undertaking, 
but would desire to commit myself in well-doing to the God and 
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to pray that, with all bold- 
ness, I may speak his word with success. Such are some of the 
important duties to which I think myself called. While I would 
consider myself bound to spend and be spent for Jesus, that I 
might win souls, I would remember that a special relation subsists 
between me and the Church now present. I would willingly 
account myself their servant, for Jesus' sake. I would crave 
their counsel, their love, and their prayers. I would put them 
in mind of the apostle's advice to the Church at Colosse, that 
they should say to their minister, in a spirit of love, Take heed 
to the ministry that thou hast received from the Lord, that thou 
fulfil it. After what I have said, I confess my unfitness for the 
work, and request the earnest prayers of my brethren in Christ, 
that I may find the grace of Jesus and his strength sufficient for 
me." 

The narrative in the "Missionary Magazine" proceeds: — 

" Having heard these full and edifying answers from Mr. Haldane, Mr. Garie 
turned to the Church, who were all seated round the pulpit, and asked an 
account of the steps they had taken in order to establish a pastoral relation 



OKDIXATIOX SERVICE. 223 

between Mr. Haldane and themselves. Mr. Aikman, one of the members, hav- 
ing been appointed by the Church to answer this question, in the name of his 
brethren, rose, and stated, That it had long been the desire of several serious 
persons in this place, to enjoy the benefit of Christian fellowship on a scriptural 
plan, and, at the same time, to avoid that contracted spirit, which would exclude 
from the pulpit, or from occasional communion, any faithful preacher of the 
Gospel, or sincere lover of the Lord Jesus ; that some time ago, a number of 
the members present had, after frequent prayer and conference, agreed upon 
certain regulations, which appeared to them agreeable to the Word of God; 
and had thereupon formed themselves into a Church, by solemn prayer; giving 
themselves to the Lord, and to one another, to walk in Christian fellowship, 
and to observe all the ordinances appointed by Jesus Christ ; that they then 
proceeded to the election of a pastor, and had unanimously chosen Mr. James 
Haldane, one of their number, to that office, and appointed his ordination to 
take place on that day, the 3d of February. 

" Mr. Garie then addressed the Church again, and desired that if they still 
adhered to their choice of Mr. Haldane, and their desire that he should be their 
pastor, they should now signify that desire, by holding up their right hand. 
This being accordingly done by the members, Mr. Garie asked Mr. Haldane, 
after what he had heard and seen of the desire of his brethren respecting him, 
whether he would now finally declare his acceptance of their call ? This ques- 
tion being answered by Mr. Haldane in the affirmative, Mr. Evving gave out 
Psalm cxxxii. 12, 17, while Mr, Garie descended from the pulpit, in order to 
engage in the ordination prayer. Mr. Haldane was then solemnly set apart to 
the work of the ministry, and to the pastoral office in that church, by prayer 
and imposition of hands. 

"After prayer, and giving Mr. Haldane the right hand of fellowship, Mr. 
Garie gave out the following hymn, entitled ' The People's Prayer for their 
Minister:' — 

" 1 With heavenly power, Lord, defend 

Him whom we now to thee commend ; 
His person bless, his soul secure, 
And make him to the end endure. 

" 2 Gird him with all sufficient grace 
Direct his feet in paths of peace ; 
Thy truth and faithfulness fulfil, 
And help hini to obey thy will. 

" 3 Before him thy protection send ; 

love him, save him to the end ! 
Nor let him as thy pilgrim rove, 
Without the convoy of thy love. 

" 4 Enlarge, inflame, and fill his heart, 
In him thy mighty power exert ; 
That thousands yet unhorn may praise 
The wonders of redeeming grace ! 

" During the singing of this hymn, Mr. Ewing went to the pulpit, and, after 



224 OEDINATION" SERVICE. 

prayer, preached a sermon from 1 Peter v. 1-4, ' The elders which are among 
you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, 
and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed : Feed the flock of God 
which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but wil- 
lingly ; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over 
God's heritage ; but being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shep- 
herd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory, that fadeth not away.' At 
the conclusion of this sermon, he addressed himself particularly to the pastor, 
to the church, and to the congregation ; and then closed the service in the usual 
manner. After the last prayer, he gave out three verses of the fiftieth hymn 
of the second book of the Olney Hymns, entitled ; A Prayer for Ministers.' 

The service lasted near five hours, during all which time a crowded audience 
showed the deepest attention, and some seemed much affected. We hope this 
was a token for good, and the beginning of many happy days to this new 
formed Church, while it may, perhaps, have been the blessed occasion of 
awakening some who may yet be added to it." 

Mr. James Haldane never aspired to be the leader of a sect. His 
ambition was of a higher and holier order. But he was the first 
minister of the first church formed amongst the new Congrega- 
tionalist Churches of Scotland. The biographer of Mr. Ewing, 
who has written her father's Life with filial affection, bears the 
following pleasing and truthful testimony, derived from contem- 
poraries, as to "the state of things in Edinburgh, particularly in 
connection with the congregation and services of the Circus :" — 

u With many souls it was the season of first love ; and even those who had 
long known the grace of God in truth, looked back to it ever after, as a time 
of life from the dead. There was a fervor of spirit ; a love to each other for 
the truth's sake ; a delight in all the- ordinances of the Gospel, which makes it 
resemble more perhaps the Pentecostal period in Jerusalem, than any that has 
succeeded it. The fear of singularity, and the love of the world, seemed alike 
for the time to have lost their power. The work of God in seeking the con- 
version of sinners, was made the business of life." ..." The multitudes, also, 
who crowded to the Circus, the zeal and activity of those engaged in Sabbath- 
schools, and various other useful institutions ; the intelligence received from 
others, sent forth to more distant labors : all these were animating in the high- 
est degree. They furnish in abundance topics for the most improving conver- 
sation, while they became alike the source of thanksgiving and encouragement 
to prayer." ... "To warn, to beseech, or to exhort their fellow-sinners, was a 
spontaneous delightful employment; to describe the blessedness of ' peace with 
God, through our Lord Jesus Christ,' was but to express the overflowings of 
their actual experience. And to crown all, they were at peace among them- 
selves." — Life of Greville Ewing, p. 1 86. 

It would be delightful to linger over the memory of " those 
times of refreshing," of which the recollection was so long cherished 



REV. CHRISTOPHER ANDERSON. 225 

by those associated with the Edinburgh Circus. As yet there 
were no discussions about the order of primitive churches, about 
their discipline, about modes of baptism, or those other perplex- 
ing questions, which afterwards necessarily arose, and served to 
divert the force of that artillery, which was at first exclusively 
concentrated against the strongholds of Satan. There are now 
but few survivors to speak from personal remembrance of that 
memorable season. There is but one testimony, borne both by 
the living and the dead, as to the fervor of devotion and the over- 
flowing of Christian love, which marked the period. These were 
not the characteristics of a few fleeting weeks or months. They 
continued, more or less, for years, and the description of them 
will not soon be forgotten by those who were present at the com- 
memoration of Mr. J. A. Haldane's Jubilee, in 1849, as given 
by the late Eev. Christopher Anderson. That venerable minister, 
who has now gone to his rest, then stated that numbers were 
awakened or converted by almost every sermon, whilst even those 
who had themselves known the truth, looked back to the period 
as one of revival from spiritual deadness to a quickening life. 
The Circus first, and then the Tabernacle, were crowded by 
thronging multitudes, hanging upon the preacher's lips, joining 
with earnestness in the prayers, singing the praises of the Lord 
with their whole hearts, remaining during long services without 
wearying, and retiring in solemn silence, afraid, as it were, to 
desecrate the place where the Lord himself was present, and that 
presence was felt. Those tokens of a work of grace, extended far 
beyond the narrow limits of a sectarian inclosure. The impulse 
vibrated throughout Scotland, and served to reanimate the expi- 
ring flame of that noble Church, whose chosen emblem is still the 
bush that burned, but never is consumed. 

Immediately after Mr. J. Haldane had agreed to officiate in 
Edinburgh, his brother proceeding on his original plan, next 
purchased the Circus in Jamaica-street, Glasgow, at a cost of 
3000?., and converted it into a Tabernale for a congregation, of 
which Mr. Ewing was to be the pastor. From Glasgow, Mr. 
Haldane, accompanied by Mr. Ewing, proceeded to Stirling, to 
propose to Mr. Innes the arrangement with regard to Dundee. 
Mr. Innes did not, at once, see it to be his duty to leave the 
Church of Scotland, but having been ordered, by a majority of 
the General Assembly to assist, personally, in the ordination of a 
minister, who was a profane swearer, and charged as such in open 

15 



226 REV. DR. BOGUE. 

congregation, he left the communion in which he could no longer 
continue with a good conscience, and availed himself of the offer 
made by Mr. Haldane, although the exchange involved not only 
prospective but immediate pecuniary loss. 

" The Tabernacle of G-lasgow," says Mr. Haldane, "was to be 
put into Mr. Ewing's hand during his incumbency. I promised 
to execute a deed for this purpose, and to fix his salary at 200?. 
a year, to arise out of the proceeds of the house. In order to 
make this salary the more secure, I was to become bound, in case 
of a short-coming, to pay the pew duty, or ground rent, the ordi- 
nary expenses, and the necessary repairs. On the 1st of Decem- 
ber, after all the foregoing business was arranged, Mr. Ewing left 
Lady Glenorchy's Chapel, and began, January 2d, to teach the 
first class of students. In May, 1799, he removed to Glasgow, 
and, in the month of July following, I delivered to him the above- 
mentioned deed." It is necessary to add, that the surplus to arise 
from the Tabernacles at Glasgow and Dundee was not to belong 
to Mr. Haldane, but to be applied to the training and education 
of young men for the ministry of the Gospel in Scotland, under 
the superintendence of the two brothers, in unison with Mr. 
Innes and Mr. Ewing. As Mr. J. A. Haldane stood in need of no 
salary, the whole of the income of the Edinburgh Tabernacle, 
after payment of expenses, was devoted to the Society for Prop- 
agating the Gospel. 

It was Mr. Haldane's intention to have established his first 
seminary at Gosport; an intention which, had it been accom- 
plished, would have been far more agreeable to his own feelings 
and conducive to Mr. Ewing's future usefulness and comfort. In 
the prospect of the Mission to India, Dr. Bogue, in his private 
correspondence, stated, that he considered his own long acquaint- 
ance and friendship with its chief, as indispensable to the stability 
of the plan. Mr. Haldane had, from boyhood, been familiar with 
Dr. Bogue, and regarded the veteran champion of the Gospel 
almost with filial affection. The friendship- thus begun was ce- 
mented by Christian principle, and never was interrupted. Both 
were men of ardent mind, shrewd observation, strong intellect 
and determined will. Each was conscious of his own strength, 
remarkable for self-reliance, confidence in his own opinion, and a 
disposition rather to lead them than to follow. But each was im- 
bued with much, also, that was kind and gentle, as well as with 
a feeling of mutual respect, esteem and forbearance. There was 



MR. EWING SUBSTITUTED FOR DR. BOGUE. 227 

also on both sides great command of temper, and a tact which 
teaches a wise man how to maintain his independence, without 
showing jealousy lest it should be unintentionally assailed. Mr. 
Haldane knew the points, in regard to which Dr. Bogue's scho- 
lastic theology and other attainments gave him an advantage. 
But Dr. Bogue also knew the strength of his younger friend, as 
well as Mr. Haldane's superior acquaintance with the world, and 
his advantages of position. There, consequently, was no jeal- 
ousy between them, but, acting towards each other in the spirit 
of mutual esteem and Christian forbearance, they were enabled 
to journey on to the close of life, exhibiting, in relation to each 
other, how good men can even differ in opinion and still preserve, 
unbroken, the ties of friendship. 

It was, however, ordered, that the young men should not go to 
Gosport. During the visit made to Glasgow and Stirling for the 
purpose of completing the arrangements about the Tabernacles, 
it was represented by Mr. Garie, and, with greater force, by Mr. 
Ewing, that if the students were sent to Hampshire, the friends 
of the new movement in Scotland would be exposed to that oblo- 
quy which attached to the exaggerated representations made of 
Dr. Bogue's liberal politics. Politics were the bugbear of the age ; 
Mr. Haldane's had been attacked. Mr. Ewing was then with- 
out occupation, and the Glasgow circus could not be opened for 
six months. The objections to Dr. Bogue were plausible, and, 
with less than his usual caution, Mr. Haldane yielded a decided, 
though reluctant, consent to the remonstrances of his two fellow- 
travellers ; and an immediate arrangement as to the students was 
deemed so urgent, that he agreed to place the first class under Mr. 
Ewing before he had the opportunity of even consulting his 
brother. It was unfortunate, both for Mr. Haldane and Mr, Ew- 
ing, who were hot at all calculated for such mutual co-operation. 
If anything were wanted to enhance the character of Dr. Bogue, 
it is to be found in the fact, that, although conscious of his own 
superior scholarship and experience, and by no means acquiescing 
in the wisdom of the reasons which dictated this change of pur- 
pose, he nobly merged all idea of personal advantage in the impor- 
tance of the sacred object which both had at heart. Mr. Haldane 
did, however, endeavor to make compensation for the disappoint- 
ment, by procuring the institution of another class for students, 
to be educated under his venerable friend, for the ministry in 
England, Partly through his influence, and partly by his pecu- 



228 THE FIEST CLASS AT GLASGOW. 

niaiy aid, ten young men were placed under the tuition of Dr. 
Bogue, whose own future character and usefulness, as the tutor of 
the London Missionary Seminary, proved a sufficient refutation 
of the objections with which he was at first so often assailed. 
When the name of the Eev. John Angell James, of Birmingham, 
is mentioned as one numbered amongst those whom Dr. Bogue 
always termed " Mr. Haldane's students," at Gosport, it will be 
seen that Dr. Bogue's political disqualifications were more imagi- 
nary than real. Of the Scotch students, the first class was placed 
under Mr. E wing's care, in Edinburgh, within a month after he 
ceased to be a minister of the Church of Scotland and assistant to 
the Eev. Dr. Jones. It commenced with twenty -four (according 
to Mr. Campbell, afterwards increased to about thirty), all of 
these being Presbyterians, and none Congregationalists, in senti- 
ment. " Some of us," says Mr. Munro, of Knockando, " belonged 
to the National Establishment, others to the Eelief, and not a few 
were Burghers and Anti-burghers. The only qualifications for ad- 
mission to the seminary were, genuine piety, talents susceptible 
of cultivation, and a desire to be useful to our fellow-sinners by 
preaching and teaching the words of eternal life. The grand ob- 
ject proposed by the zealous originators* of the scheme was, to 
qualify pious young men for going out literally to the highways 
and hedges to preach the Gospel, unconnected with the peculiari- 
ties of any denomination." " Such," continues Mr. Munro, " were 
the materials placed under Mr. E wing's tuition ;" but he adds, 
with great naivete, before the termination of our prescribed course 
of study, we found ourselves decided and intelligent Congrega- 
tionalists." 

To this class the excellent Mr. Cowie, of Huntly, sent " four of 
his spiritual children." One of the first students was the Eev. 
Mr. Maclay, who went out as a missionary to America, and be- 
came a very useful and popular Baptist minister in New York. 

* The worthy writer of the above extracts, in using the word " originators" seems 
to imply that the origin of this benevolent scheme was to be attributed to several. 
Mr. Haldane never looked for human applause, or for any earthly reward, and there- 
fore was not disappointed when his benevolence was either overlooked or unappre- 
ciated by those who experienced it. But it is due to his memory to state, that he 
was the sole originator of these academies. It was by him alone that the idea was 
first conceived, when away from Scotland. It was through his exclusive liberality 
that it was carried out. But for him years might have elapsed before it would have 
been attempted. And when his bounty ceased to flow in this direction, it was long 
before anything systematic was done in the same way by the Congregational Union. 



THE SECOND CLASS AT DUNDEE. 229 

His eldest son is an eminent lawyer and Member of Congress in 
the United States. 

The students were all maintained at Mr. Haldane's expense, 
according to a scale for each married and unmarried student, 
drawn up at the time by those well acquainted with such matters 
at Gosport and Rotherham. Before their admission they under- 
went a strict examination as to their abilities and qualifications. 
But, next to the importance of engaging in the work on purely 
Christian principles, nothing was more strongly impressed upon 
their minds, than the assurance that there was no design to ele- 
vate them in their social position ; that it was not intended to 
make gentlemen of such among them as were mechanics, but 
catechists or preachers ; and that, after their term of study was 
over, they must not look to their patron for support, but to their 
own exertions and the leadings of Providence. That this caution 
was needful must appear obvious to every observer of the ways 
of the world, and Mr. Haldane afterwards found that all his 
munificence was insufficient to protect him from the charge of 
covetousness. The Dundee Tabernacle was not opened till the 
19th of October, 1800; but, during the interval, Mr. Haldane 
collected another class of missionary students and catechists, 
whom he placed under Dr. Innes, intending that these should 
also go to Glasgow to be instructed by Mr. Ewing for fifteen ad- 
ditional months. Their tutor, the venerable Dr. Innes, thus 
writes : " The second class was placed under my care for the first 
year, at Dundee, in which the number was about forty. This 
class was transferred, in the second year of their studies, to Mr. 
Ewing, at Glasgow. The third class was also, for the first year, 
under my care. The number was twenty -two. This will give 
you some idea of the singularly liberal, I would say, magnificent 
scale, on which Mr. Haldane undertook to promote the preaching 
of the Gospel, as all of these students were supported entirely at 
his own expense." 

Dr. Innes adds, " In the Tabernacle at Dundee it was proposed, 
that whilst the first part of the proceeds, to a certain amount, 
should go to the minister, yet the surplus, if any, should be de- 
voted to the education of young men for the ministry. On one 
or two occasions the funds of the Tabernacle fell somewhat short 
of the amount specified, and I think it due to the memory of Mr. 
Haldane to say, that that deficiency, though not a part of our 
agreement, he made up." 



230 AFRICAN CHILDREN. 

Whilst these arrangements were in progress Mr. Macaulaj 
arrived in England, bringing with him twenty-four African chil- 
dren. The following is the narrative of Mr. Campbell : — 

"At length," says Mr. Campbell, writing of the month of June. 1799, "a 
letter reached me one Monday morning, from Governor Macaulay, dated Ports- 
mouth, informing me of his arrival there, and that he had twenty boys and four 
girls on board; and he expected that, by the time the vessel got round to Lon- 
don, I should be there to take them off his hands. I hastened with this intelli- 
gence to Mr. Haldane. In thirty hours after receiving the information of the 
children's arrival, I found myself seated in the London mail-coach, galloping to 
the south. 

" I found that the African children had arrived a few days before me, and 
were lodging in a house behind a tavern at Clapham, where I soon visited 
them, and found there were twenty boys and four girls, all jet black, cheerful 
and happy. I walked with them across the Common to Mr. Henry Thornton's. 
While going along, they scattered, chased and pushed each other, diverting 
themselves in the same way as a similar number of English boys would have 
done. On reaching Mr. Thornton's gate I counted their number, and found, as 
was uniformly the case afterwards on similar occasions, some were missing. It 
arose from companies dining in the neighboring mansions, astonished to see a 
cloud of young Africans, sending out their men-servants to try and catch some 
of them, and bring them before them. When they observed me returning in 
search of the strayed, they always sent servants with them to meet me. Peo- 
ple being pleased to look at them as curiosities, they fancied all were their 
friends, and most willingly went with any who asked them. 

" I had a letter of introduction to the late Joseph Hardcastle, of whom I was 
to take counsel in anything relating to the Africans, and we almost settled for 
their passage to Edinburgh in a Leith smack. It was well we had not finished 
the bargain, for the next time I met Messrs. Thornton and Macaulay, I found 
they had learned that the small-pox was in Clapham, which rendered it indis- 
pensably necessary to have the children all inoculated, lest they should take it 
when on board the ship, and their lives be lost. Such a detention in London 
was very unexpected by me, but Mr. Hardcastle and I both saw the importance 
of the measure recommended; wherefore I consented to wait till they should 
recover from the inoculation. They were soon all received into the Small-pox 
Hospital at St. Pancras." 

It is to Mr. Macaulay's characteristic caution that the inocula- 
tion of the children is to be attributed. He -had mentioned inocu- 
lation to their parents, through ignorance of the superior safety 
of vo/xination, and he preferred running a considerable risk, of 
which he had given notice, to a much smaller one. which he had 
not mentioned. But, in truth, the delay in sending down the 
children to Edinburgh proved to have in it something more 
diplomatic than a dread of the small-pox. Mr. Macaulay had no 
doubt become alarmed at the ecclesiastical aspect of affairs in Ed- 



231 

inburgh, and wished to detain the children at Clapham. He 
therefore objected to their education being under Mr. Haldane's 
sole management. The objection might, under the circum- 
stances, have appeared to some equitable. Not so the attempt to 
fix Mr. Haldane with the sole expense. Mr. Macaulaj evidently 
mistook the character of Mr. Haldane, who was not simply an 
amiable philanthropist, but a cool reasoner and a shrewd man of 
business. On the first intimation of a design so unceremoniously 
to take the education of the children out of his hands, whilst he 
was expected to pay the entire cost, he thus wrote to Mr. Camp- 
bell, with his usual decision : — 

" As to the other proposal, I confess I am not a little surprised at it. The 
gentlemen were surely not exercising their usual consideration when they made 
it. It seems proper, however, distinctly to state, what might have been under- 
stood, that I shall intrust no part of the children to any but those who act 
under me, and that this was my intention, as you know, from the first, when, 
upon the promise of your assistance, I commissioned you to write for them to 
Africa. Mr. Macaulay, in none of his letters, expressed the smallest expectation 
of any other result. Indeed, this seems only reasonable, when I am to be at 
the sole expense of their education in Britain. ... I consider this a very solemn 
and important charge, and hope the Lord will enable me to act to those children, 
while placed, in the course of His providence, under my care, with all the regard, 
solicitude, aud affection which I could exercise towards my own." 

Mr. Macaulay was too sagacious not to discover, very shortly, 
the mistake he had made in trying to make Mr. Haldane a cypher 
in the management of the children, for whom, according to the 
new plan, he was to have the privilege of paying a sum estimated 
at 7000?. But he did what he could to retain the children, and 
yet secure the aid of Mr. Haldane's purse. A modified proposal 
was therefore made, both as to expense and management. But 
although Mr. Haldane distinctly stated that he had always in- 
tended to advise with others, and " especially with Mr. Macaulay," 
he peremptorily declined coming under any such engagement as 
a matter of bargain. 

In a letter, dated June 18, 1799, he thus expresses his feel- 
ings:— 

"I must say that this is a very extraordinary business. However, I am 
satisfied. The Lord seems to intend a different plan for the children. His 
will be done! I am sure my intentions were right in the business. Conscien- 
tiously, and to the best of my power, it was my resolution, through His grace, 
to educate these children, and tenderly to have cared for them. 

"As to Mr. Macaulay and the gentlemen of the Company, who knew the 



232 AFKICAN CHILDREN. 

whole for nearly eighteen months, and never even hinted what they now desire, 
till after the children were in England and you in London, I think it would be 
much better for them to say, in plain terms, that they have altered their minds, 
than to make such proposals. That I should be at the whole or greatest part 
of the expense, and be allowed to be an overseer under a Committee, and this 
under another in London, or that I should act, according to Mr. Macaulay's 
undefined plan, ' in concert with other gentlemen, they adding to my subscrip- 
tion what was deficient, and I having my due weight in directing,' &c, are pro- 
posals singular in the extreme, which now come too late, and which, if they 
were in my circumstances, they would not themselves agree to. I distinctly 
meant, from the first, that I should have the sole management, and in conse- 
quence pledged myself to the sole expense. 

" Mr. Thornton, Mr. Grant, and Mr. Hardcastle knew this, and there was 
time enough for Mr. Macaulay to have known it too, and I rather think he did 
know, from your letter to Sierra Leone, informing him that the children were 
to be educated at Edinburgh, from funds wholly provided there ; and if he had 
entertained any suspicion, he should have stated his objections before he left 
Africa, and inquired more minutely into it. . . . But it is needless to say more 
on the subject, except to put him right in one particular. Had I died, the burden 
of the children could not have fallen on the Company, but funds to complete 
their education would have been found amply provided by my will. Mr. Row- 
land Hill and Mr. Ewing, to whom I have communicated your letters, and also 
Mr. Macaulay's, coincide with me in my opinion of the whole." 

In fact, there was little room for serious difference of opinion 
amongst candid men, and Mr. Macaulay found that Mr. Haldane's 
views were adopted even by some of the most influential Directors 
of the Sierra Leone Company, and very decidedly by Mr. Hard- 
castle, one of the leading Directors, to whom Mr. Macaulay at 
that time considered himself under personal obligations. Had it 
been otherwise, the attempt to restrict Mr. Haldane's powers to 
the privilege of continuing to pay, whilst he ceased to direct, 
would assuredly have failed ; for he finally wrote to Mr. Campbell, 
in most distinct terms, warning him not to undertake the care of 
the children without a written avowal on the part of the ex- 
Governor, that the manner and direction of the children's education 
were to be free from any control on the part of Mr. Macaulay or 
the Company. " We will not," says Mr. Haldane, in writing to 
Mr. Macaulay, " we will not so mix the work. Either you or I 
shall have the whole charge." For fifteen months Mr. Haldane 
had been allowed to act, on the assumption that he was to be 
solely responsible. Under this impression, he had taken the lease 
of a house in the King's Park, Edinburgh, afterwards used for 
the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, which Sir Walter Scott has immor- 
talized in his Heart of Mid- Lothian as that of "the Laird of 



AFRICAN CHILDREN. 233 

Dumbiedykes." He had painted it, furnished it, and made all 
the other arrangements needful for the comfortable reception of 
the children, who were to be under the superintendence of Mr. 
Campbell, whose judgment and prudence were held in such esteem 
that Mr. Macaulay had himself entrusted to him the guardianship 
of his four unmarried sisters. If there had been a mistake at the 
beginning, it was too late to remedy it, except by a frank avowal 
of the error, and an offer to exonerate Mr. Haldane from all past 
or future charges. But funds were at last found by the Com- 
pany, and the friends of Mr. Wilberforce and Mr. Thornton, for 
the education of the children ; and although they were not 
taught as Mr. Haldane had advised, and more attention was paid 
to their secular than religious education, yet some good was ac- 
complished. They carried out with them to Africa many of the 
arts of civilized life. Whilst at Clapham, they convinced Mr. 
Pitt that the African race is not naturally inferior to the Euro- 
pean. It may also be mentioned, to the credit of Mr. Macaulay, 
that in after-years, both in public and private, he expressed his 
respect for the character and talents of Mr. Haldane. One of his 
sisters was for many years a member of the Church, under Mr. J. 
A. Haldane's pastoral care, and was the occasion of frequent com- 
munication with Mr. Macaulay. Mr. Campbell's biographer, in 
dismissing the subject of the African children, observes : " But 
although Mr. Campbell's African School, like Whitfield's Orphan 
School, came to nothing, it pledged his own heart to Africa, and 
revealed in his friend, Mr. Kobert Haldane, a depth of benevo- 
lence which he never forgot nor ceased to imitate in his subse- 
quent zeal for Africa." 



CHAPTER XI. 

[1799.] 

The visit of the celebrated Charles Simeon, of Cambridge, 
had, in 1796, been only intended as a tour of recreation. Its 
effects at Moulin had, however, considerably discomposed the 
Moderates of the Church of Scotland, many of whom were doing 
the work and adopting the language of David Hume and his suc- 
cessors. Their "death-like silence" and their "dread repose" 
had been still more rudely disturbed the following year, by the 
first tour to the north by Mr. Simeon's companion in travel, Mr. 
J. A. Haldane, in company with Mr. Aikman and Mr. Eate. 
But the second visit of Mr. Simeon, in 1798, to some of the very 
places where Mr. James Haldane had already produced so great 
a sensation, followed as that visit was by the tour of Mr. Rowland 
Hill, and free strictures of his Journal, brought matters to a 
crisis. 

For a long time the leaders of the Moderates had been medi- 
tating a blow at the itinerants. They had rejoiced to see Mr. 
Simeon excluded from the Nonconformist Episcopalian Chapels, 
and were determined that the Gospel which he preached should 
no longer find a refuge in the pulpits of the Established Presby- 
terian Church of Scotland. The General Assembly holds its 
annual sittings in May, and the friends of the Gospel looked with 
well-founded alarm on its convention in 1799, whilst the mutter- 
ing of the coming storm did not prevent Mr. J. Haldane and his 
companions from setting out on a new tour, and one more ex- 
tended than ever. 

The " Edinburgh Advertiser" of that week announces, under 
the head of Tuesday, May 28, 1799, " Overtures from the Synod 
of Aberdeen, and that of Angus and Mearns, respecting- vagrant 
teachers and Sunday-schools, irreligion and anarchy." A strange 



PASTORAL ADMONITION. 235 

medley is this announcement, and in our days ludicrous ; but it is 
added: "The Assembly unanimously agreed to tbe overtures, 
and prohibited all persons from preaching in any place under their 
jurisdiction, who were not licensed as above ; and also, those who 
are from England, or any other place, and who had not first been 
educated and licensed in Scotland. And resolved that a pastoral 
admonition be addressed by the Assembly to all the people under 
their charge." 

The declaratory acts of the Assembly passed on this occasion, 
the one against " vagrant teachers," and the other against unau- 
thorized teachers of Sabbath-schools, were, in May, 1842, re- 
scinded by the unanimous act of the last General Assembly held 
before the Disruption in 1843. Dr. Cunningham, who moved 
the overture, spoke of it as " eminently discreditable to the 
Church of Scotland." He said, "It was passed for temporary 
purposes, and upon motives and grounds which, he believed, 
were now regarded by a great majority of the Church of Scotland 
as of the most erroneous and improper kind, and as amounting 
to nothing less than a hatred to the cause of evangelical truth.'' 
Another noble champion of the Gospel, the Kev. Mr. Guthrie, 
declared that he looked upon the Act of 1799 "as one of the 
blackest acts the Church of Scotland ever passed ; and he rejoiced 
with all his heart that such an overture had been made as that 
introduced by Dr. Cunningham. The Act was passed not to 
exclude heresy from our pulpits, but to exclude truth." Dr. 
Candlish added the weight of his great name and character to 
this condemnation, and remarked that it was notorious that that 
Act was framed for the very purpose of excluding from the pul- 
pits of the Church men whom it would have been an honor to 
any Church to employ in preaching the unsearchable riches of 
Christ. Such is the contrast between the spirit which animated 
the Blairs, the Carlyles, the Moodies, and the Hills of 1799, and 
that which characterized the majority which, in 1842, rallied 
round the illustrious Chalmers, the heavenly-minded Gordon, and 
their other distinguished compeers. 

On the day after the passing of the Act of 1799, a Committee, 
appointed for the purpose, presented to the Assembly, on the 3d 
of June, a pastoral letter relative to missionary and itinerant 
preachers, which was carried, after a feeble resistance by a minor- 
ity overborne by numbers and authority. Four thousand copies 
were ordered to be printed and circulated, and it was appointed 



236 DRS. BLAIR, ERSKINE AND BALFOUR. 

to be read from the pulpit of every parish on the first Sunday 
after being received. The same Committee also gave in a report 
hostile to Sunday -schools, which was also adopted, but of it only 
1,600 were ordered for the use of the Church. 

The whole of these proceedings were worthy of the period 
when David Hume said that the Scottish Church was more favor- 
able to Deism than any other religion, a period which Dr. Cun- 
ningham termed "one of the most deplorable of the Church's 
history." The pastoral letter was signed by Dr. Moodie, but was 
said to be the composition of Dr. Hugh Blair, whose intimacy 
with the unbelieving philosophers of his day, significantly con- 
trasts with his aversion to enthusiasm in religion. A mutual 
admiration of genius and intellect was in his case, as in others, 
considered to be a bond of friendship sufficient to overbear any 
objections which sprung from any difference of sentiment in re- 
gard to God or to eternity. The admonition has no merits in 
point of composition, and does as little credit to the intellectual as 
to the moral qualities of the Professor of Ehetoric and Belles Lettres. 

The Procurator of the Church was, in the next place, author- 
ized to proceed legally against unauthorized teachers of Sunday 
Schools, on the strength of some obsolete Acts of the Scottish 
Parliament directed against "Papists and malignants." In short, 
itinerants and Sunday-school teachers were delivered over to the 
hands of the civil power, and it was not through any forbearance 
on the part of the Assembly, that this power was not exercised 
in the form of open persecution. 

In a letter written at the time by Miss Stuart, of Dunearn, to 
her friend, Miss Aikman, it is said: "You will probably have 
heard of the pastoral admonition which is to be read in all the 
churches, warning their congregations against the Circus preachers. 
Mr. Balfour (the late eminent Dr. Balfour, of Glasgow) was one 
of the Committee appointed to draw it up. I saw him for a few 
minutes after it was done. He appears in great distress about it. 
He says that he smoothed as many rough corners of it as possible, 
but that none of us will find out that when we see it. My grand- 
father (Dr. Erskine, of Carnock) and he agree that they are doing- 
all they can to build up the cause they meant to destroy. I won- 
der what the ministers will do, who are known, like them, in the 
main to approve the design. It really brings them to the trial. 
Oh ! may God grant them to be faithful to light received, should, 

think, be the prayer of all at present." 



REV. ROWLAND HILL. 237 

The pastoral admonition attacked by name the " Society for 
Propagating the Gospel at Home," and charged the itinerant 
teachers with " intruding into parishes without any call," " erecting 
in several places Sunday-schools," and "connecting these schools 
with certain secret meetings," "censuring the doctrine of the min- 
ister," as "opposed to the Ecclesiastical Establishment of the 
land," and acting "as if they alone were possessed of some secret 
and novel method of bringing men to heaven." The people are 
further warned not to follow up and down a sect of men "whom 
you know not whence they be." When Mr. Haldane read their 
Bull, he quietly remarked, that the venerable Assembly did not 
seem to be aware that, in using these words, they were uninten- 
tionally appropriating to themselves the words, as well as the 
character of Nabal, when he sent his railing message to David in 
the wilderness. 

The anticipations of Dr. Erskine and Dr. Balfour were, how- 
ever, realized, and the bigotry of the Moderates only tended to 
the furtherance of the Gospel. Kowland Hill arrived at Edin- 
burgh the following Friday, and found, as he says, "all the city 
quite thunderstruck at the fulminating Bull which had been 
issued." "But," he said, in his own quaint way, "we shall shine 
all the brighter for the scrubbing we have got from the General 
Assembly." He adds, in a note to his second Journal: "Three 
reasons alone can be assigned for their conduct ; these are mad- 
ness, malice, or an attempt to discover our treasonable plots ; and 
the first of these reasons should seem the most probable, the pas- 
toral admonition being dated on the day of the full moon !" Mr. 
Hill assailed the Assembly, both in print and in his sermons, with 
all the weapons of sarcasm and ridicule which so abundantly filled 
his quiver. But it too much engrossed his mind, and. for the time 
injured his usefulness. It was often remarked by Mr. Campbell, 
that he never heard of any conversion as the fruit of this tour, 
and he attributed this to the effect of the Assembly's Bull, in 
distracting the good man's mind, disturbing the solemnity of his 
feelings, and leading him to launch out against the bigotry of the 
Moderates, to the exclusion of that Gospel which he so much 
loved to preach. This is a fact worthy of record, told as it is of 
a man whose whole career was so eminently useful. It was other- 
wise with Mr. J. A. Haldane, Mr. Innes, and Mr. Aikman, who, 
in the islands of the far north, thought little of the Bull that was 
fulminated against themselves, but much of the destitute people 



238 REV. GEORGE BUKDER. 

who hung upon their lips and drank in the words of eternal 
life. 

Many answers were published to the Assembly's Manifesto 
besides that by Mr. Eowland Hill. Probably the best was a plain 
but telling letter in the newspapers from the Eev. George Burder, 
who was then supplying at the Circus, and which he addressed in 
self-defence to the newspapers. A few sentences will suffice. 

" It has been my practice in England, for more than twenty years, to itinerate 
on the week-days, as far as the duties of a settled charge would admit, — a prac- 
tice not new in the South. Good Matthew Henry, author of the ' Commentary 
on the Bible,' and many other valuable men, followed the same course. In the 
tolerant country of England, and under the benign influence of the Toleration 
Act, we have enjoyed this liberty unmolested, except, occasionally, by 'certain 
lewd fellows of the baser sort, who have been generally excited to persecution 
by envious men who believed not the truth. But it was reserved for me to find 
in Scotland men, sustaining the ministerial character, who scruple not to brand 
their brethren, <of both countries, with the name of vagrant teachers; and to 
insinuate that they are all enemies to the State, because they presume to preach 
the Gospel to perishing sinners without their authority; though it is now with 
an ill grace that they complain of our preaching out of doors, when they have, 
by their late act, shut the doors of all their churches against all the world but 
their own body. Nor is this all. Threats have been thrown out, that if the 
good people of Scotland will not regard their high admonition, — if they will 
still assert their liberty to hear whom they please, and to judge of religious 
matters for themselves, — and if the good work of instructing poor children, 
and converting poor sinners, shall yet make l an alarming progress] — then they 
will apply to his Majesty for assistance. What is this but the avowal of an 
intention to persecute a resolution to solicit the civil power to suppress reli- 
gious liberty % . . . For myself and my brethren, I beg leave to say, ' We 
depart from this Council, rejoicing that we are counted worthy to suffer shame 
for the name of Jesus, and determined, wherever we have opportunity, to teach 
and preach Jesus Christ.' " 

But the established Church of Scotland was not singular in 
its efforts to crush the itinerant preachers. In 1796, the Anti- 
burghers, or General Assembly Synod, had passed a Resolution 
against the constitution of Missionary Societies, and testified 
against co-operating with persons in religious matters against 
whose opinions they were opposed as a Church. The Camero- 
nians at Glasgow declared some of their body, who had attended 
a missionary sermon preached by Dr. Balfour, to be guilty of con- 
duct "sinful and offensive," and this censure not being acquiesced 
in, they proceeded to actual excommunication. The Relief Synod, 
at their Meeting in 1798, forgetting that their founder, Gillespie, 
had finished his theological education at Dr. Doddridge's academy 



239 

decreed, "that no minister shall give, or allow his pulpit to be 
given, to any person who has not attended a regular course of 
philosophy and divinity in some of the Universities of the nation, 
and who has not been regularly licensed to preach the Gospel." 
This was levelled at the English ministers and itinerants, who 
thinned their chapels. "But," says Dr. Struthers,* "this illiberal 
act was, in 1811, allowed to drop out of their code of regulations, 
as something of which they were ashamed." 

To the same effect, in 1798, the Anti-burgher Synod passed a 
decree against "attending upon, or giving countenance to, public 
preaching, by any who are not of our communion ; " and in 1799, 
they went so far as to bring to their bar, and finally to depose 
and excommunicate, one of the brightest ornaments that ever 
adorned their Church, the Eev. George Cowie, of Huntly, of 
whom it has been eloquently said by the Eev. Dr. Morrison, who 
knew him well, — 

" He had no competitor, no equal in the north of Scotland. He was a man 
of genius, bold and fearless in all his movements, and, in his feelings of charity 
and liberality, half a century at least before the ecclesiastics of his day. In 
the pulpit Mr. Cowie was truly great. His appearance was that of dignified 
simplicity. He could declaim, and he could be pathetic. His discourses par- 
took of the colloquial. He had studied human nature, and he knew how to 
approach it at every avenue. The power he had over an audience was great 
beyond description. He could make them smile or weep. His appeal to the 
conscience was unceremonious and direct. He never lost sight of the theme 
of the pulpit. All things were by him counted loss for the excellency of the 
knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord. He was a stern reprover of sin ; but he 
melted with tenderness over the sinner, beseeching him to be reconciled unto 
God. I have seen hundreds dissolved in tears under his ministry, and I have 
wept from pure sympathy when I was too young to understand the message." 

Such was the man whom, in September, 1799, the Associate 
Synod deposed "for countenancing the ministrations of what are 
called missionary preachers, by hearing them preach, and in vari- 
ous other ways." Mr. Cowie, on being asked whether he had 
heard the itinerant preachers, declined to answer ; but in a speech 
made on the occasion, he voluntarily acknowledged that he had 
heard both Mr. J. A. Haldane and Mr. Kowland Hill, and said 
that he considered the conduct of the Synod as a species of per- 
secution, and as joining with the General Assembly in their 
opposition to a great work of God. Other proceedings were 
taken upon this confession, the result of which was that in April, 
* Strainer's " History of the Relief," p. 465. 



240 SECOND TOUR TO THE NORTH. 

1800, he was deposed from the office of the ministry, and, with 
his whole Kirk Session, formally excommunicated. This intoler- 
ant and monstrous sentence, which now almost provokes a smile, 
was publicly intimated at Huntly, by the Eev. Mr. Mitchell, on 
the 18th May, 1800. 

In relating to this affair, Mr. Kinniburgh remarks : — "Mr. Cowie, 
when deposed and excommunicated, wrote thus to a friend: ' This 
is not the first time I have been excommunicated by men upon 
earth, and richly do I deserve to be forever excommunicated by 
Him whom I have offended more than any other ; but instead of 
frowning on me when the world have, he meets me in love, as he 
did my brother the blind man of old.' His Church adhered to 
him almost like one man, and his popularity was not impaired." 

The testimony of this holy, venerable, and eloquent preacher 
to Mr. J. A. Haldane's preaching, has been already noticed. It 
may be added, that although deposed for countenancing him, yet, 
on the first occasion when Mr. J. Haldane visited Huntly in 1797, 
Mr. Cowie would not go into the chapel, but sat at the windows 
of the contiguous manse, where he could hear distinctly. Mr. 
James Haldane preached a solemn and striking sermon from John 
v. 28, 29 : " Marvel not at this : for the hour is coming, and now 
is," &c. Mr. Cowie was so overcome by the earnestness, the 
power, and the unction with which the unlicensed Evangelist then 
spoke, that he felt ashamed of his backwardness, and could no 
longer resist holding out to him the right hand of fellowship. 
He exclaimed, that such a preacher "carried his credentials with 
him," accompanied him into the chapel in the evening, and from 
that hour lent to the preaching of the Itinerants the sanction of 
his official character and influence. In manuscripts which he left 
behind him, he records the impressions on different occasions 
made on him by Mr. Haldane's sermons, sometimes speaking of 
himself as at once "humbled and inspired by the unction from 
the Holy One" which attended the preacher, and at another 
declaring that after such a sermon he felt "as if he could never 
again ascend his own pulpit-stair." 

SECOND TOUR TO THE NORTH. 

When Mr. J. A. Haldane undertook the pastoral care of the 
Circus Church, in Edinburgh, he expressly stipulated that this 
should not prevent his laboring as an evangelist in "the high- 



JOINED BY ME. INNES. 241 

ways and hedges." Before this event, the summer and autumn 
of 1797 had been memorable for his tour, with Mr. Aikman, to 
Caithness and the Orkney Islands. In the summer of 1798 he 
had traversed the west and the south of Scotland ; and, after his 
return, again visited Dunkeld and other places in Perthshire, 
where his preaching had been greatly blessed. In 1799 he deter- 
mined to make a second tour to the north with Mr. Aikman. 
Accordingly, Tuesday, the 7th of May, was appointed for their 
departure from Edinburgh, a short time before the issuing of the 
Meeting of the General Assembly. A sketch of this tour is 
recorded in the "Missionary Magazine," from which it appears 
that he set out alone, Mr. Aikman being at first detained at home 
by severe indisposition. Beginning at Dunfermline, and going 
on, through Kinross, to Perth, he preached twice in each place 
to large congregations, which assembled in spite of unfavorable 
weather, and was welcomed with much cordiality by those who 
heard. On the Saturday he arrived at Dundee, where he preached 
on the Lord's-day in his native town, in the Relief Presb}*terian 
chapel, to overflowing congregations. "Many," he says, "were 
obliged to go away." He adds, " The spirit of hearing in this 
place is remarkable. May they not be forgetful hearers, but 
doers of the Word." During the week-days intervening between 
the next Sunday, he preached at Kerrymuir, Forfar, Glamis, 
Brechin, and Montrose. On the Lord's-day he preached, by 
request, at Inchture, in the Carse of Gowrie, near Rossie Priory, 
the beautiful seat of Lord Kinnaird. There, in this country vil- 
lage, not less than a thousand people assembled in the afternoon 
to hear the Word; after which he returned to Dundee, and 
preached in the open air in the evening to a vast multitude. 
Thousands occupied the ground, listening in silence with solem- 
nized feelings and deep attention. 

Before Mr. J. Haldane left Edinburgh he had received a letter 
from Meigle, expressing the determination of the people to hear no 
more itinerants and accept of no more tracts. Accordingly, he 
went thither on Monday, when " all the village turned out to hear, 
and the people expressed their strong disapprobation of the letter." 
It had been signed by several under the pressure of strong influ- 
ence, but they now declared their earnest desire to hear the Gos- 
pel and receive tracts. 

On Tuesday, accompanied by Mr. Innes, who joined him at 
Dundee, he preached at Arbroath. After sermon they were over- 

16 



242 HUNTLY. 

taken by Mr. Aikman, who, having lost his place in the mail- 
coach on the Monday, did not arrive at Dundee. This accident 
is marked as providential, for, had he accomplished his purpose 
on the Monday, Mr. Innes would not have gone further ; a cir- 
cumstance which, as matters turned out, might have prevented 
the tour to the Shetland Islands. It was now determined that 
they should all continue their route together, travelling in a post- 
chaise towards the north. At a small village, near Lawrence 
Kirk, they were amused by the bellman's refusal to announce 
sermon. He gave two reasons : the one, that he was himself a 
Jacobite ; the other, that he understood the preachers to be Lati- 
tudinarians. Being asked the meaning of this long word, he said, 
that it was preaching gratuitously, or, as he expressed it, "for 
God's sake," of which he disapproved. They proceeded to Aber- 
deen and Banff, preaching as they journeyed, both in the open 
air and in chapels, to large congregations. But, on this occasion, 
to adopt the words of Mr. Eobert Haldane, remonstrating, in a 
letter to his younger brother, against his excessive labors, Mr. J. 
A. Haldane received a practical intimation that " his strength was 
not of iron, nor his bones of brass." Although he had been out 
only four weeks, he had preached more than sixty times, often in 
the open air to great multitudes ; and continued exertion, as well as 
exposure to the rainy weather, brought on a sore throat, which at 
last confined him to his inn, at Huntly . His fellow-laborers, waiting 
for his recovery, preached in some of the neighboring towns and 
villages, where they spent the following Lord's-day. On their 
return to Huntly, they found Mr. J. A. Haldane so ill that he had 
determined to return home next morning. His portmanteau was 
packed, and a post-chaise bespoke for the next morning to carry 
him to Aberdeen. About ten o'clock the same evening the quinsy 
burst and gave instant relief. No sooner was the pressure of ill- 
ness removed, than his plans were immediately changed. The 
post-chaise was countermanded, or, rather, was employed to carry 
his friends the next day to Elgin and Forres. He himself remain- 
ed quiet during the week ; but on the following Sunday evening 
he actually preached in the open air, at Huntly, to a very large 
congregation. At Forres he rejoined his party, and accompanied 
them to Inverness, preaching, as they went, to multitudes earnest- 
ly drinking in the words of eternal life. 

At Inverness they heard, on the Lord's-day, " The Assembly's 
Bull" against vagrant preachers read in the churchy and afterwards 



DR. M'CRIE. 243 

preached on the hill to a large congregation, from the words of a 
"vagrant preacher," formerly well known in Jndea, Matt. iii. 10. 
On the 30th of Jnne they arrived at Wick and Thurso, where 
they had satisfactory evidence of the blessing that had accompa- 
nied the former tour. On the following Tuesday, 2d July, they 
crossed the Pentland Frith to Walls, and commenced their circuit 
of the Orkneys. Next day they went by sea to Kirkwall, where 
they found the Gospel flourishing. In the year 1798, after their 
first tour to Caithness, the Rev. Dr. M'Crie, the celebrated histo- 
rian of John Knox, was sent to Kirkwall to ordain a minister. 
The impression made on his mind by the earnestness of the people 
and their interest in the Gospel never was effaced, and is said to 
have altered the tone of his preaching and given to it more of that 
pointed simplicity and directness of personal appeal which charac- 
terized the preaching of Mr. J. Haldane and Mr. Aikman. The 
following is an extract from a sermon preached to Dr. M'Crie's 
own people, in 1798 ; it is taken from his Life, as written by his 
son, who inherits the talents of his father : — 

" In the country from which I have lately come," he said, " thank God, it is 
otherwise. There you will see persons hearing as those who have souls which 
must be saved or lost. There you may see the most lively concern depicted 
on every face, and hear the important question put from one to another, ' What 
must I do to be saved V Here it is a miracle to see one in tears when hearing 
the Gospel ; and if, at any time, we witness the solitary instance, we are tempt- 
ed to think the person weak or hypocritical. There it is no uncommon thing 
to see hundreds in tears, not from the relation of a pathetic story, nor by an ad- 
dress to the passions, but by the simple declaration of a few plain facts respect- 
ing sin and salvation. Here it is with difficulty that we can fix your attention 
on the sublimest truths during a short discourse. We must contrive to amuse 
you with some striking form of address. We must keep you awake by min- 
gling amusement with instruction. There, in order to be heard with the most 
eager attention, one has only to open his mouth and speak of Christ, and, after 
he is done, they will follow him to his house and beseech him to tell them more 
about Christ. Here it is only certain preachers that can be patiently heard; 
there, so far as we know, there has not been one from whom they have not re- 
ceived the Word gladly, nor one sermon preached that has not brought tears 
from the eyes of some." 

At Kirkwall Mr. Aikman stopped, being disabled by inflamma- 
tion in his eyes, and Mr. J. A. Haldane and Mr. Innes proceeded 
towards the Shetlands, preaching at several islands on their way. 
On the 10th of July they reached Fair Island, the first of the 
Shetlands, and the people heard, with thankfulness, the only ser- 
mon that had been preached there for six years. From the Fair 



244 SHETLANDS. 

Island they embarked in an open boat, and were out all night, 
" most of the time in heavy rain." On such occasions, and in all 
his tours, Mr. J. A. Haldane's boat-cloak was through life a con- 
stant companion. He used to say that it had been with him three 
voyages to India, and often proved a friend in need, although, in 
his maritime career, he had then little dreamed of the nature of 
the services in which it was to be afterwards employed. They 
were hospitably received on the mainland of Shetland by a gen- 
tleman of the name of Ogilvy, and commenced their labors by 
preaching in a barn. Thence they proceeded to Lerwick, the 
principal town in Shetland, where they spent the Lord's-day. The 
people had then little connection with Scotland, and a respectable 
woman inquired if Edinburgh was as large as Lerwick. Having 
next preached in Nesting, they visited the islands of Whalsy, 
Skerries, Tettar, Unst, and North . Yell. The Eev. Mr. Mill, a 
venerable clergyman, of eighty-eight years of age, gave Mr. J. 
Haldane his church to preach in ; and after the service stood up 
and, in a commanding tone, warned the people to take heed to 
the words they had heard, more especially as this visit was a new 
and unprecedented occurrence in their history. At Unst they 
found that the minister had been captured on his voyage from 
Leith and carried to Bergen. Having next gone to Mid and 
South Yell, and crossed over to North Maven, preaching especial- 
ly to the fishermen, who were very eager to hear, Mr. Haldane 
and Mr. Innes separated, in order that together they might take 
in a wider circuit. Mr. J. Haldane himself went to Fulah, which 
is supposed, both from situation and the name, to be the Ultima 
Thule of the Eomans. It is twenty miles from the main land, 
contained about 200 inhabitants, and had no resident minister. 
On this island he preached four times, as well as in the parishes 
of Sandness and Walls ; after which he joined his excellent col- 
league at Scalloway, and returned to Lerwick, where they spent 
five days, preaching each day, both in the town and neighboring 
country. At Lerwick one of them heard the Gospel faithfully 
preached in the parish church. In the account of the tour they 
mentioned the great kindness they received from a gentleman to 
whom they had no introduction, and who insisted on their making 
his house their home. This was the more worthy of notice, as 
Mr. Hay was not himself, at that time, much interested in the 
truths of the Gospel, but he appreciated their motives and enjoy- 
ed their society. Mr. J. A. Haldane, speaking in his own name 



GENERAL HOSPITALITY IN THE SHETLANDS. 245 

and that of Mr. Innes, says, " They express the highest sense of 
gratitude for the hospitality they uniformly received from Shet- 
land." " They laid their account," he adds," with no other accom- 
modation than the cottages afforded, instead of which they were 
kindly received, and frequently urged to accept the best accom- 
modation the gentlemen and ministers' houses afforded. There 
was one, and but one exception, which, they believe, arose from 
misapprehension of their intentions, and which they would never 
have mentioned had they not imagined prejudiced persons might 
have misinterpreted their silence." 

The exceptional case alluded to was one of which both the 
tourists were wont to speak with much good-humor, as a little 
incident in their travels which, so far as they were personally 
concerned, only afforded matter of mirthful recollection. They 
had landed one afternoon, weary and famished, at an island 
where there was only one respectable house, which was near the 
beach, and where they had hoped to have found a stranger's, if 
not a prophet's, welcome. Here they were very coldly received, 
with a strong intimation that the people had no need of more 
than the occasional preaching which was already provided. 
Leaving Mr. Innes in the house, Mr. Haldane had gone down to 
disembark from their boat a large package of tracts for distribu- 
tion, but, on returning and observing the same frozen manner, he 
took Mr. Innes aside, told him that it was time to return, and, 
briefly apologizing to the inhospitable group for the intrusion, 
left the house with his friend. Soon after he preached on the 
sea-shore, when some of the party, who were themselves visitors, 
added to their incivility by sending for their own boatmen, who 
were listening to the sermon. After it was over, it was too late 
to think of again putting to sea, but, having obtained shelter in 
a fisherman's hut, they procured some salt-herrings and oat-cake 
for their meal and a dry floor for their bed. This circumstance 
occasioned great indignation amongst the upper, as well as the 
lower, classes in Shetland, and not only brought much reproach 
on the ungracious family, but induced others to redouble their 
kindness towards the missionaries, in order to wipe off the stain 
which had been, in their estimation, ^cast on the hospitality of 
the Shetlands. 

Mr. J. A. Haldane preached his last sermon at Lerwick, on the 
7th of August, to "a large and attentive congregation," when 
the people expressed much gratitude and a strong desire for 



246 QUIT THE SHETLANDS. 

another visit. u It is to be hoped." he says. M that the seed sown 
here, as well as in more distant parts of the country, will not be 
in vain." 

Having left Lerwick, they came to Dunrossness, preaching on 
the way at Coningsburgh. Sandwich, and Bigton, and were again 
received with much affection by their patriarchal friend. Mr. Mill. 
On Friday and Saturday they preached to large congregations, 
and on Sunday, the 11th. one went to Sandwich and the other 
remained at Dunrossness. The Bull of the General Assemblv 
was powerless in this distant region, and the parish church, as 
well as the rocky beach, became a temple both to the itinerants 
and the inhabitants of this district. They were now only waiting 
for a fair wind to return to the Orkneys, but were detained by 
thick and rainy weather until the Saturday, when they could not 
resist the invitation to spend the Lord's-day in a place where 
their preaching was so much prized. The 13th of August saw 
the conclusion of their labors in Shetland. They had spent 
nearly six weeks there, but still regretted that they could afford 
so little time to those who came in crowds to hear and were such 
earnest listeners. " The people were often much affected, and it 
is to be hoped.'' says Mr. J. Haldane, -'that lasting impressions 
have, in some instances, been made, The Lord's word cannot 
return to Him void ; and surely He did not send it in this 
unusual way to these distant islands, without having purposes of 
mercy to some." This hope was not to be disappointed. In 
going to the Shetlands. Mr. J. A. Haldane had but fulfilled the 
wish expressed by his venerable friend. John Xewton. that the 
Xorsemen, belonging to these remote and neglected isles, might 
not be forgotten, whilst we were sending Missions to the South 
Seas. At that time the Shetlands contained a population of 
26,000, occupying thirty scattered parishes, placed under the care 
of twelve ministers, of whom not more than two or three preach- 
ed the Gospel. Long before the close of his own life there were 
joyful tidings of the blessings that rested on these labors in Shet- 
land. The religious state of the people had been previously de- 
plorable, and much of the revival of religion which then took 
place may be distinctly traced to the Mission of himself and Mr. 
Innes. To adopt the words of a recent writer, ; 'the earnest and 
rousing addresses of our brethren broke in upon the dangerous 
repose of the people, exciting a spirit of inquiry there before un- 



ANECDOTE. 247 

known, when, by the blessing of God, not a few were turned to 
righteousness."* 

On the evening of the Lord's-day, after preaching at Sandwick 
and Dunrossness, they embarked in a six-oared fishing boat be- 
longing to the Commissioners of the Northern Fisheries, hoping 
to reach the Fair Island before dark, and cross over to Orkney in 
the morning, so as to arrive in Kirkwall in time for the great fair. 
"They could not," says Mr. James Haldane, "but feel regret in 
parting with their kind host and his family. He took leave as 
one who was to meet us no more below, but expressed his joy in 
the prospect of meeting in the presence of Jesus, no more to 
part." Their voyage, although in fact prosperous, was not unat- 
tended with some anxiety, and was, at all events, sufficient to try 
a landsman's courage ; but Mr. Innes felt he was in the path of 
duty, and did not hesitate to embark. Although in his sketch 
of the tour, Mr. J. A. Haldane speaks of the wind as fair and the 
weather fine, the swell of the ocean was heavy, and the embarka- 
tion so difficult that the wives of the boatmen besought their 
husbands not to venture on a voyage to which it appeared they 
were not accustomed, and which was so different from their usual 
fishing excursions. The night overtook them before they reach- 
ed the Fair Island, and they missed it in the dark. The men be- 
came themselves uneasy, but were encouraged to proceed, whilst 
Mr. J. A. Haldane took the helm, and, guided by the stars, steer- 
ed for North Ronaldshay. In the gray of the morning, one of 
the boatmen, anxiously looking out, intimated in a doubtful tone 
that he thought he saw the land. The welcome sound was at 
first received with incredulity, when, as Dr. Innes relates, his 
friend, quitting his post at the helm and going forward, looked 
for a few moments with the practised eye of a seaman, and cheer- 
ed them with the words, " Yes, it is." It was the height on 
which stands the North Ronaldshay light-house, and soon after- 
wards, the boat being steered in that direction, they landed on 
the Island of Sandy, after a run of fifty-four miles. The mis- 
sionaries retired to bed, but the boatmen, having taken counsel 
among themselves, determined to lose no time in returning to 
Shetland. Mr. J. A. Haldane was called up in order to pay for 
the hire of the boat, and they then set out, contrary to his urgent 
advice, as the wind was not favorable, and the currents in these 
seas are dangerous. The result was, that the boat being no 
* " Kinniburgh's Historical Survey," p. 55. 



248 OKKNEYS — CAITHNESS. 

longer properly steered, they were carried out of their course, 
away to the north-east of Scotland, where they were picked up 
by a coasting vessel, at the mouth of the Moray Firth. Being 
unaccustomed to any but fishing excursions, and doubtful as to 
their course, they lost all presence of mind, and such was their 
panic, that in their haste to get on board the friendly ship which 
saved them, they forgot to make fast their boat, so that it drifted 
away and was lost. A futile claim was made on the tourists by 
the Northern Fishery Commissioners, for compensation for their 
loss, but of course it could not be maintained, and was almost 
immediately abandoned. 

On Monday evening, the 29th August, the itinerants arrived 
at Kirkwall, where they found Mr. Aikman at his post engaged 
in preaching. He had itinerated throughout a great part of the 
Orkneys, and everywhere had been kindly received. In the en- 
suing week they preached, morning and evening, during the fair, 
and visited several of the islands, as well as some of the parishes 
on the mainland. Mr. J. A. Haldane preached the last sermon 
on Sabbath, August 25, "to a very large congregation." On 
Monday they went to Stromness, on Tuesday to Walls, preaching 
twice or three times at each place, as well as at South Eonaldshay 
and Flota. On Wednesday they crossed the Pentland Frith in 
safety, and once more were gladly welcomed by their friends in 
Caithness. The Journal concludes as follows : — ■ 

" They also saw many pleasing fruits of their labors on a former tour. The 
desire of hearing is rather increased than diminished in Caithness ; at the coun- 
try places where they preached they always found large congregations. Those 
who have been already gathered in seem only to be a kind of first fruits of a 
more abundant harvest of souls in Caithness. What cause of thankfulness to 
Him who has raised up and placed in such a situation two ministers, whose de- 
sire for the increase of the kingdom of Jesus leads them not only to preach in 
their churches, but to go to the highways and hedges to compel sinners to 
come in. 

" They preached at several country places during the week, as well as Thurso 
and Wick, and on Sabbath assisted at the dispensation of the Lord's Supper in 
Mr. Ballantyne's meeting-house. It is large and commodious, but not yet 
finished. The number of communicants was about 180, including upwards of 
eighty from Wick, most of whom have been brought to the knowledge of the 
truth since the itinerants first visited Caithness. They spent a most comforta- 
ble day; the multitude of people who atte^aed obliged them to have sermon 
without as well as within, and in the evening the congregation was larger than 
any they had seen in Caithness. By desire of the people, Mr Haldane preached 
at eight next morning. He then set out for the south, leaving his brethren, 



FRUITS OF ITINERANCIES. 249 

Messrs. Aikman and Innes, who were to remain two or three weeks longer. 
On Wednesday, he reached Inverness, preached there on Thursday, on Friday, 
and Saturday at Nairn and Campbeltown, and spent the Sabbath at Inverness. 
The congregation in the evening was large, although the weather was threaten- 
ing. On Monday he preached at Elgin, on Tuesday at Huntly, on Wednesday 
at Aberdeen, and on Friday, the 20th, returned to Edinburgh, after an absence 
of four months and a-half. His fellow-laborers arrived in town a few days ago, 
and confirm the account above detailed. They bear testimony to the remarka- 
ble work of grace evidently begun in Caithness, and give the pleasing intelli- 
gence, that at least thirty young people of Inverness appear to have been 
brought to the knowledge of the truth by attending the Sabbath-schools and 
itinerant preaching in that place." 

Such was the conclusion of Mr. J. A. Haldane's third tour, 
which was also his second to the north. He had now preached 
the Gospel in every part of Scotland, and abundantly distributed 
religious tracts from the Solway Firth in the south round about 
to the Tweed, and thence beyond Caithness and the clustering 
Orkneys and Shetlands, even to the Ultima Thule of the Komans. 
He had also skirted the fastnesses of the Highlands from Dunkeld 
to Sutherland, but had felt the difference of language an obstacle 
to his progress in these districts, an obstacle which often induced 
him to speak of the value of the miraculous gift of tongues 
which, in apostolic times, so wonderfully facilitated the diffusion 
of the Gospel. 

During his absence from the Circus Church, his place had been 
supplied partly by the Rev. Eowland Hill, who made a second 
tour into Scotland, partly by the Eev. George Burder, the cele- 
brated author of the "Village Sermons," and partly by the Rev. 
George Collison, of Walthamstow, and other preachers. 

This year was memorable for the institution of the London 
Religious Tract Society, of which Mr. George Burder, after his 
return from Edinburgh, was one of the honored founders, and for 
many years the useful and laborious Secretary. But in connection 
with this great Institution, which has circulated so many millions 
of religious tracts, and whose usefulness daily increases, it must 
be mentioned, that before its establishment, the Edinburgh Tract 
Society had been formed, and that religious books and tracts had 
been circulated in myriads by the itinerants, chiefly at the expense 
of Mr. Haldane. Mr. Simeon, of Cambridge, first showed the 
example in 1796. In 1799, Mr. J. A. Haldane and Mr. Aikman, 
at their own cost, printed and circulated twenty thousand, and 
afterwards the elder Mr. Haldane, with his accustomed munifi- 



250 DISTRIBUTION OF TRACTS. 

cence, furnished an unlimited supply for all who had the will and 
the opportunity to avail themselves of his liberality in Scotland. 
But although the Haldanes, with Mr. Campbell and the Edinburgh 
Tract Society, were the precursors of the great Institution in 
Paternoster-row, they never claimed to be the originators of the 
system. At the Reformation, an immense collection of tracts was 
sold and distributed in Germany, of which a perfect set has been 
arranged by Mr. Bandinell, of Oxford, in the Bodleian Library. 
At the English Reformation much, too, was effected by religious 
tracts ; and at a later period, the Puritans laboriously promulgated 
their opinions by the same efficient means. John Wesley also 
well understood the value of the press as a moral agent, and 
employed it accordingly. The publication of religious tracts was 
nearly contemporaneous with the invention of printing, and helped 
to shake the Papacy to its foundation. To combine for their gra- 
tuitous circulation was the idea of a later age. 



CHAPTER XII. 

[1799—1800.] 

The pertinacity with which the opponents of Evangekcal 
preaching continued to impute political motives to the originators 
of the plans for propagating the Gospel at home, is characteristic 
of the angry spirit which disturbed the close of the eighteenth 
century, and arose out of the panic produced by the French Rev- 
olution. The proposal to put down field-preaching by legislative 
interference, was not then an unmeaning threat, and it was no 
fault of the leaders of the Moderate party, that the power of Gov- 
ernment was not exerted in support of the pastoral admonition. 

The correspondence with Professor Robison records his deep 
regret for the error he had committed, and his promise to publish 
a full apology. The editor of the " An ti- Jacobin Review," whilst 
appearing to correct the Professor's unintentional calumny, was 
still eager to keep up the excitement, by suggesting that Mr. Hal- 
dane's conduct, in sacrificing his estate, was to be attributed to the 
frenzy of revolutionary zeal. 

" We have reason to be assured," says the editor, " that a sect is just now 
forming in Scotland for the avowed purpose of sapping the foundation of the 
Presbyterian Church, as established by law. At the head of that sect is the 
gentleman, who, in the first edition of Professor Robison's ' Proofs of a Con- 
spiracy,' &c, was said to have expressed his readiness ' to wade to the knees in 
blood for the purpose of overturning every establishment of religion.' From 
the postscript to the second edition of the Professor's valuable work, we learn 
that Mr. H. disclaims all sanguinary proceedings ; and we doubt not, but, before 
the breaking out of the French Revolution, D'Alembert, Diderot, and Condor- 
cet, would have said the same. The zeal, however, of Mr. Haldane against 
Establishments, must be very ardent ; for it has prompted him to sell a beautiful 
estate, and to apply part of the price to the endowment of a seminary in Glas- 
gow, for the express purpose of educating itinerant preachers, who may propa- 
gate the Gospel in purity, wherever it is contaminated by the baleful influence 
of Establishments." 



252 ATTACK OF THE 

To this disgraceful and injurious calumny, Mr. Haldane wrote 
an indignant contradiction, which the " Anti- Jacobin" was com- 
pelled to insert. A few extracts may suffice. 

" You have asserted that there is a sect now forming in Scotland, at the head 
of which I am, for the avowed purpose of sapping the foundation of the Pres- 
byterian Church, as established by law. You have also said that zeal against 
Establishments has prompted me to sell my estate. These assertions, Sir, are 
both absolutely false. The public whom you have misled, must therefore be 
undeceived, and, although you have no title to any concession from me, I now 
inform you, that while I use the liberty of every British subject, to judge for 
myself in matters of religion, so far from avowing it, / never entertained, in my 
mind, the most distant idea of sapping the foundations of the Established Church ; 
and that it was not for this purpose I sold my estate. 

" I must request you to insert this letter in your next number ; and thus at 
least show yourself as ready to vindicate where you have injured, and to retract 
where you have been misled, as to censure and make public what you conceive 
to be reprehensible. 

" I am, Sir, &c, 

"Robert Haldane. 

"Edinburgh, June 26th, 1799." 

These reiterated, persevering, and malicious attacks at last 
determined Mr. Haldane to yield to the advice of his friends, to 
publish a narrative of his proceedings, and a statement of his 
opinions. He did so, in a widely circulated pamphlet, alike 
remarkable for its clearness, its candor, and its ability, entitled, 
"Address to the Public, by Eobert Haldane, concerning Political 
Opinions, and Plans lately adopted to promote Eeligion in Scot- 
land." The first edition was issued when the General Assembly, 
for 1800, was sitting, and it produced a strong impression, greatly 
tending to put to shame the machinations of those, who had 
calumniated the Home Missionaries and their benevolent designs. 
It bears the stamp of truth on every page, whilst, with manly 
frankness, he sketches his past history with as little of egotism 
as was compatible with its object, and traces to their source every 
one of the plans in which he was engaged. It is now chiefly 
interesting as the record of his early career, and a considerable 
part of the narrative has been introduced into the foregoing pages, 
as containing the most authentic account of his conversion to God, 
and the progress of his opinions. 

" After I had fully, as I trust, desired to submit to the will of God, revealed 
in his Word, I had many conscientious scruples respecting my conduct, as it 
regarded politics. I saw that nothing external so much influenced human af 



ADDRESS ON POLITICS. 253 

fairs as civil government, and that to it, in a great measure, might be traced the 
various opinions, situation, and character, of the different nations in the world, 
while these again had a reciprocal effect, and stamped the character of the other. 
I reflected that, becoming a Christian, I did not cease to be a citizen ; and I 
thought that, especially under the British Constitution, where public opinion is 
so much and so justly regarded, it was my duty to be well-informed in that 
science, which regulates and directs every public movement, I was persuaded 
that good general principles upon that subject were of great service to the 
world, and therefore thought it my duty to inform myself, as far as possible, 
concerning these, and carefully to store them up in my mind. 

' I however began clearly to perceive that the Scriptures require the most 
conscientious and cheerful submission to the Government of the country, 
whatever it may be, stating it to be the ordinance or appointment of God him- 
self to mankind for good. 

" Soon afterwards it forcibly struck my mind, that the Lord Jesus himself, 
and his apostles, whose example we are called to imitate, though living in their 
own country of Judea, had not at all intermeddled with the subject: then why 
might not, or rather why ought not I, to follow them in this respect? This 
entirely satisfied my mind. I reflected further, that such conduct appeared in 
itself the best, as Christians could do much more good, by calling men's atten- 
tion to the concerns of a future world, than to their own depravity, and to the 
Gospel of salvation, than in being so much occupied with the arrangements of 
time, or turning their attention so often to the faults or defects of the king- 
doms of this world. I immediately perceived the good effects that flowed from 
the Apostles' conduct in this respect. The doctrine which they preached 
wrought a rapid, and though gradual, yet a powerful change ; and what philoso- 
phy, humanity, and political science, had been unable to accomplish, the preach- 
ing of the Cross, and the noble moral principles connected therewith insensibly 
effected. The cruel treatment of prisoners, the shows of gladiators, the ex- 
posing of infants, domestic slavery, and many other glaring evils which dis- 
graced society, but which the Apostles had never directly attacked, fell before 
the irresistible energy of their peaceful doctrine. The example of the Apos- 
tles then, in this respect, I resolved to endeavor steadily to pursue. I have 
since done so, and of this resolution I do not repent. I was even much in- 
clined to follow it a considerable time before the period above mentioned, and 
before I could fully satisfy my mind of the propriety of doing so, I perceived 
that, in this world, Christians should beware, as much as possible, of adding to 
the ' offence of the Cross,' and this strongly inclined me to it. The humilia- 
ting method of salvation through a merciful Saviour, ' not by works of right- 
eousness that we have done, but by the washing of regeneration, and renewing 
of the Holy Ghost,' will, of itself, be sufficiently offensive and irritating to the 
proud, unhumbled heart of an unconverted man." 

Mr. Haldane next declares his views of the Scriptural doctrine 
of obedience, founded not on the Divine right of a particular 
dynasty, but on the character of the existing Grovernment, as 
" the ordinance of God." The firmness and consistency of his 
opinions, when once formed, will be seen by reference to the last 



254 NATIONAL CHURCH ESTABLISHMENTS. 

edition of his * Commentary on the Komans,' which he published 
in 1842, shortly before his death, and in a letter to the u Edin- 
burgh Christian Instructor," published in 1840. They are the 
same sentiments as those which Joseph Milner represents, as the 
opinions of the primitive Christians, and adopts as his own. 

Mr. Haldane steadily adhered to his principle of imitating the 
early Christians, in not intermeddling with politics, till the year 
1837, when, under a conviction that the spirit of Keform unsatis- 
fied by the large concessions obtained in 1832, was rather tending 
to revolution, he rode to Airdrie, from his house at Auchingray, 
and undeterred by popular excitement, after an interval of more 
than forty years, gave his vote as a freeholder. The Lanarkshire 
election turned upon a single vote, and as Mr. Haldane not only 
voted himself, but influenced the votes of twelve other electors, 
there is no doubt that the decision of the election was justly 
traced to him. It may be, that he carried his views of non-inter- 
vention too far, and he himself admitted that, as a magistrate, a 
legislator, or a freeholder, a Christian had political and social 
duties to perform. But, in reality, he only argued that to abstain 
from interfering was a privilege, and that if a Christian did inter- 
fere, he was bound to remember that government is not the ordi- 
nance of man but of God. 

In the second edition of the " Address," Mr. Haldane states 
his views with regard to National Church Establishments. His 
sentiments on that subject indicate the ruling principle which 
guided all his movements, from the time that he was brought un- 
der the influence of the truth. 

" In the first edition, I announced my intention of a second publication. At 
that time I had not a doubt that this would be rendered necessary by the proceed- 
ings of the General Assembly, then sitting. I meant in it to have stated more 
fully my sentiments respecting ecclesiastical establishments, but especially to 
have taken notice of the pastoral admonition, the conduct of the clergy in that 
business, and of any further steps they might have taken on the same subject 
in the last Assembly. I was happy, however, to find this unnecessary, a differ- 
ent line of conduct from what was expected having been adopted by the As- 
sembly, and the charges formally advanced, I trust, finally abandoned. With 
regard to ecclesiastical establishments, it is sufficient in this place to declare, 
that whatever my sentiments respecting the good or evil attending them may 
be, I have no hostile designs (as has often been said) against the Established 
Church. I have avowed, in the strongest manner, my decided persuasion, that 
all violence in religion is criminal and absurd. Besides, / would much rathe? 
build up than pull down, and, if possible, add to the means of instruction to my 
fellow-creatures, than in any way diminish them. While every man, in re- 



BILL AGAINST UNLICENSED PREACHING. 255 

ligious matters, ought conscientiously to abide by his opinions derived from 
Scripture, there is room enough in the world for all to exert themselves in doing 
good, without different parties devouring each other." 

From these views Mr. Haldane never departed, and, on the 
contrary, towards the close of life, became less and less disposed 
to pull down systems, differing from those of which he more par- 
ticularly approved. His "Address" forever silenced the calum- 
nies, which had been circulated with reference to the political 
designs of the Society for Propagating the Gospel at Home. 
There is no doubt that the publication was very useful, as there 
was a most alarming project in contemplation for curtailing the 
right of preaching, and otherwise interfering with religious liber- 
ty. Apart from other evidence, this intention appears from 
papers found in Mr. Wilberforce's repositories, and mentioned in 
his Diary, as well as from other documents. Indeed it was twelve 
years afterwards openly stated in the House of Peers, by Lord 
Kedesdale, that Mr. Pitt's Bill was much stronger than the subse- 
quent abortive measure of Lord Sidmouth. In fact, it would 
have put an end to all unauthorized preaching, and rendered it 
difficult to obtain a license. Mr. Haldane was not easily suscep- 
tible of fear, but in a letter, dated the 14th of April, 1800, he 
wrote to his friend, Mr. Hardcastle, urging that every effort 
should be made to avert the threatened blow. He offers to pro- 
ceed himself to London, in order personally to put Mr. Wilber- 
force and Mr. Thornton in possession of all his views and plans. 
He adds: " Should not an earnest address be circulated to all the 
Dissenters in every part of England, calling on them to join so 
many evenings every week for fervent prayer, to avert this catas- 
trophe. The Lord reigns, and can easily stop it. This morning 
I read, in course, of the repentance of Nineveh, and of the 
Lord's averting judgment. He may do the same on our behalf, 
for the sake of his own cause." 

It was not necessary for Mr. Haldane to wait on Mr. Wilber- 
force to instruct him as to the danger. Mr. Wilberforce himself 
declared, that he was u never so much moved by any public 
measure," and that, if carried, it would have been "the most fatal 
blow, both to Church and State, which had been struck since the 
Eestoration.' ' Through the blessing of God, on the remonstrances 
addressed to Mr. Pitt, the menaced evil was averted, and the 
crisis passed over. 
Mr. Pitt's threatened Bill for preventing unlicensed preaching 



256 TOUR TO ARRAN AND KINTYRE. 

put no arrest on Mr. James Haldane's itinerating plans. In a 
letter to Mr. Hardcastle, in tae spring of 1800, Mr. Campbell re- 
marks, " We are preparing in the course of next summer to 
make another attack on the kingdom of Satan." He was antici- 
pating the campaign in which he was about to become the sub- 
stitute of Mr. Aikman. Mr. Campbell had now altogether relin- 
quished secular pursuits, and, at the solicitations of his two 
friends, entirely devoted his time and energies to that cause to 
which his heart had long been consecrated. He had gone to 
Glasgow, where, in watching over the interests of the Seminary, 
he himself enjoyed the advantage of Mr. E wing's tuition and 
the scientific lectures of Dr. Birkbeck. Mr. Campbell had not 
rashly adopted this step, but had consulted with such men as 
Newton, Scott, Booth, Fuller, Charles of Bala, Stewart of Moulin, 
Claudius Buchanan of India, and other Christians, both Church- 
men and Dissenters. 

It was on the 9th June, 1800, that, pursuant to the proposed 
plan, Mr. James Haldane set out on his fourth summer campaign, 
accompanied by Mr. Campbell. The usual request for the pray- 
ers of the Lord's people, which always preceded these excursions, 
is inserted in the " Missionary Magazine," that the Lord of the 
harvest may render the important object of this journey effectual 
in the conversion of many sinners." The next number of the 
same magazine, dated 21st July, mentioned that the journey ap- 
peared to be prosperous, " by the will of God ;" that after leaving 
Edinburgh, they had preached that evening and next morning in 
Peebles, and proceeded by Biggar and Douglas to Ayr, preaching 
every day in the intervening towns and villages. In his Journal, 
Mr. Campbell, in his usual graphic style, writes: "I hope I shall 
bless God forever for this journey. "We are really a gazing-stock 
to men. Wherever we go in a town, doors and windows are 
everywhere thrown open to allow those within to examine our 
appearance as we pass along. When we enter a town we gen- 
erally disperse a few pamphlets, to notify that the missionaries are 
arrived ; then, after putting up our horse, we take a walk through 
the town, to tell the people of the sermon. This, along with drum, 
horn, or bell (according to the custom of the place), makes our 
intention generally known. Last night I heard some of the hear- 
ers, after the sermon, expressing their surprise that there was no 
collection. ' They cannot be poor men,' said another. ' I cannot 
tell what they are,' said a third." The reader will remember the 



PORTPATRICK. 257 

magisterial opposition which Mr. James Haldane had, two years 
before, encountered and surmounted at Ayr. At this time he 
there spent two Sundays, and instead of experiencing opposition, 
was recognized and welcomed by one of the magistrates, whilst the 
people flocked in crowds to hear, so that congregations in the 
open air, amounting to 3,000 and even 5,000 souls, "heard the 
word with much attention." On one of these occasions Dr. M'Gill, 
whose Socinianism had brought a scandal on the Church of Scot- 
land and the General Assembly, was amongst Mr. Haldane's au- 
dience. It was of Dr.. M'Gill that it is reported that he proposed 
lo sign the Confession of Faith with the letters E. E. appended, 
meaning, errors excepted. At Ayr, on Sunday, 29th June, Mr. 
Campbell writes: "Mr. H. preached in the evening to about 
4,000. Many of the gentry were present. His text was 1 Cor. 
i. 18. God gave him the opening of the mouth. He told them 
part of his own history. I sat at the outside. I believe not above 
forty people went away till after the blessing was pronounced, 
which was at nine o'clock. Afterwards a gentleman called on 
Mr. H., who had been much affected by the sermon. Understood 
that a good many had been brought under concern about the 
world to come by the last visit of Mr. Haldane and Mr. Aikman." 
At Ballintrae, " the Excise officer said, that since Mr. J. Haldane's 
last visit the people had become much more orderly on the Sab- 
bath." "At Portpatrick," says Mr. Campbell, "Mr. Haldane 
preached at the bottom of a stupendous rock at the north-west side 
of the town. The waves were rolling mountains high about a 
hundred yards below us. The scene was solemn. Mr. H. made 
many allusions to the troubled sea. The people were very atten- 
tive. About eight people belonging to the inn attended worship." 
At Stranraer Mr. H. preached to about 1,000 people. At Stoney- 
kirk, after he concluded, " I overheard a woman telling her neigh- 
bor that she had heard him before at Mauchline, and never was 
so impressed with a sermon in her life." " They are now," says 
the magazine, citing a letter from these Home Missionaries, " on 
their way to Dumfries, but their progress must be slow, as each 
of them preaches once, and very often twice every day. We have 
mentioned these circumstances merely to remind our readers of 
the necessity of being instant in prayer for the Divine blessing on 
the seed of the word." Several instances " of the happy effects 
of the preaching of the Gospel in the Circus" are then alluded to ; 
and it is added, in the spirit which always from first to last char- 

IV 



258 ARRAN". 

acterized their labors, " The Lord works by whom he will ; and 
we rejoice in hearing of the conversion of sinners by whomsoever 
the Lord is pleased to effect it." 

There was little of egotism on the part of James Haldane, and 
he has left few written traces of his extensive labors in his own 
country. But happily Mr. John Campbell kept a journal, and 
from his MSS., as well as from conversational memoranda and 
epistolary correspondence, many interesting details have been pre- 
served of these tours. It was during the summer of 1800, that, 
after visiting the little island of Cumbray, and the beautiful shores 
of Bute, Mr. J. Haldane sailed over to Arran and preached in all 
its villages. The ignorance of the Celtic inhabitants was great, 
and as an instance of their rude manners, he mentioned, at his 
Jubilee Meeting, in 1849, that on a sacramental occasion he had 
been present in a parish church, where there was a pause, and 
none of the people seemed disposed to approach the tables. On 
a sudden he heard the crack of sticks, and looking round, saw one 
descend on the bald head of a man behind him. It was the ruling 
elders driving the poor Highlanders forward to the table, much 
in the same manner as they were accustomed to pen their cattle. 
Had this happened in a remote corner of Popish Ireland it would 
have been less wonderful, but the Gaelic population of Arran 
seemed accustomed to submit to this rough discipline without a 
murmur. 

Mr. Campbell's Journal supplies a continuation of the narrative 
of their tour. He says : — 

" On reaching the west side of Arran we observed a long neck 
of land stretching towards the northern coast of Ireland. On in- 
quiry we found it was Kintyre ; towards the south end of which 
was Campbelton, the chief town, having a considerable population. 
As our parish extended to wherever there were human beings, 
and hearing that there was not one Gospel preacher in the whole 
range of seventy miles, except in the chief town, we determined 
to pay it a visit. We engaged a boat, and left Arran in the after- 
noon, making towards that part of the coast where there was a 
little inn, which we did not reach till about ten o'clock at night, 
and dark. After scrambling over the rocks on the beach, the 
seamen led us to the inn, where we found the inmates fast asleep ; 
but the landlord was easily roused, struck a light, and soon cook- 
ed us a Highland supper, which is universally ham and eggs. He 
seemed to be quite exhilarated, being evidently willing to do his 



MAGISTERIAL OPPOSITION. 259 

best to make us comfortable, so that it would have been cruel to 
have found fault with anything. He had been in the army, and 
readily joined us in our evening worship. He informed us that 
there were people living not far from him, who would come to 
sermon in the morning in front of his house. But only three per- 
sons came, with whom we had a little conversation. We then 
proceeded to Campbelton, where we stopped for several days, 
preaching mornings and evenings on the green slope of a hill, to 
about 1,000 people in the morning, and about 1,500 in the even- 
ing, and twice in the neighboring villages during the day. I re- 
member on a lovely summer evening, while preaching to a very 
large congregation, a female not far from me stood up, and, with 
a stentorian voice, said, ' Who are you ? Speak Gaelic ! You 
are like our Pinkerton, — we do not understand you! Speak 
Gaelic I' I was surprised that no one came forward to compel 
her either to be silent or to go away, though there were several 
respectable persons around the chair on which I stood. So I was 
obliged to stop and reprove her ; and Mr. Haldane came from a 
distant part of the congregation, took her by the arm, led her out, 
and ordered her away, with which she complied. When the ser- 
vice was over, I expressed surprise that none of the persons near 
me had interfered. They said they durst not, for she would have 
rushed upon them and torn their faces with her nails. ' That 
woman,' said one of them, ' rules the town magistrates, and all of 
us. She knows the history of us all as far back as our grand- 
fathers at least. In most families something wrong has happened ; 
if any offend her, she publishes over the town whatever bad things 
have been done by any of their progenitors during past genera- 
tions. In that way she rules the town.' The cause of her in- 
sanity was very affecting." 

But their progress was not destined to be so peaceful, nor their 
interruptions so easily removed. By the advice of friends at 
Campbelton they had employed a messenger to go down to Kin- 
tyre, and intimate four sermons each day at the different villages: 
The clergy were all Moderate. They were, for the most part, 
deeply immersed in farming, fishing, or trading in sheep and cattle. 
Their official duties, if performed at all, were performed in the 
most careless manner, and many of them were Socinians.* At 
their instigation the Highland chiefs combined to put a stop to 
the itinerancies in their neighborhood. One of the gentlemen, 

* Struther's History, p. 399. 



260 MAGISTERIAL ARREST. 

more zealous than the rest, a military man and heir to a baronetcy, 
encountered the missionaries at a place where he had intended to 
stop them, but had not arrived in time. It was there that he first 
gave notice that the magistrates had resolved to allow of no more 
field-preaching. Mr. James Haldane plainly told the gallant Ma- 
jor, as he had told the magistrates at Ayr, that the justices were 
exceeding their powers, that such an illegal mandate would not 
be obeyed, and that he should certainly preach at the places where 
sermons had been already intimated. The Major, although some- 
what disconcerted by the calm determination with which he was 
met, repeated his prohibition, and said he should be at their next 
place of meeting before them. He was as good as his word, but 
faltered in his own resolution. He sat on horseback during Mr. 
J. Haldane's sermon, in a scarlet hunting-coat, witnessed tracts 
distributed amongst the people ; but without mustering courage 
to offer any interruption, saw both of the itinerants mount their 
horses and depart. Soon after, the Major, attended by his groom, 
passed them at a hand gallop, and then pulling up, turned round 
once more, apparently resolved on putting in force the arrest 
which he contemplated. But as often as his eye encountered Mr. 
J. Haldane's unflinching glance, his courage seemed to fail, and he 
passed on. Arriving at Whitehouse, which was the next preach- 
ing station, the Major was joined by the parish minister and 
several magistrates, all on horseback, and full of excitement. 
Field-preaching was one of those things which seemed beyond the 
reach of their philosophy, and to persist in it after their prohibi- 
tion, appeared to these little chieftains like "bearding the lion in 
his den, the Douglas in his hall." It was evident that a great 
blow was meditated. Still Mr. James Haldane, in sight of the 
assembled magistrates, left the inn to preach in the middle of the 
town, and, strange to say, against him none of all the party ven- 
tured to execute the arrest. The people were, however, so much 
intimidated by the dread of their chiefs and of the magistrates, 
that, for the most part, they stood and listened at a distance. Mr. 
Campbell's duty was to preach at an adjoining village, and although 
his friend was left unmolested in the town, yet no sooner did he 
set out, than, to use his own words, he was " followed by the per- 
son in the red coat, and ordered by him, as a justice of the peace, 
to return to Whitehouse, which I did, and put my horse into the 
stable till Mr. Haldane returned from preaching." Mr. Campbell 
was a man of great faith and strong passive courage, but he was 



SHERIFF OF ARGYLL. 261 

little of stature, and had not much of that bearing which, more 
especially on occasions of difficulty, characterized his companion. 
On his return from preaching, Mr. J. Haldane was surprised 
to find Mr. Campbell a prisoner at large. But to bring matters 
to an issue, he coolly ordered their horses to be saddled, whilst he 
advised Mr. Campbell to go to the gentlemen who were assembled 
in the adjoining room along with the parish minister, and inquire 
by what authority he was ordered to return to Whitehouse. They 
replied, pointing to a sealed paper, " There is a warrant to send 
you to the Sheriff of Argyll ; and the volunteers who are to attend 
you will be ready in a few minutes." The parish minister had, 
on the previous Sunday, silenced their messenger, who was an- 
nouncing the preachings to the people as they were coming out 
of church. Standing with a heavy leaded whip in his hand, he 
exclaimed, " If you repeat that notice, with one stroke of my 
whip Til send you into the eternal world I" 

Mr. Campbell's Journal continues the narrative of their pro- 
gress under arrest : — 

" A sergeant, with a party of volunteers in their uniforms, be- 
ing arrived, we were told we might stop where we pleased ; that 
the soldiers had only directions to see that we went to the Sheriff. 
As the soldiers had no horses, of course our progress was slow. 
After dark, we arrived at the town where we should have 
preached, and learned that a congregation had assembled, and 
did not disperse till it was almost dark. We took up our quar- 
ters at a good inn. As it was our custom to have worship at all 
the inns where we halted, we had it there, and desired the land- 
lord to invite as many of his neighbors to attend as he pleased. 
The room, which was of a good size, was well filled, and our vol- 
unteers all attended. A chapter of the Bible was read, and an 
address founded upon it being given, and prayer offered, the 
company dispersed. Next morning, at seven o'clock, we set off, 
and had about fifteen miles to march to Lochgilphead to break- 
fast. While at breakfast an old man called, who said, ' We heard 
of your coming, and of your having arrived at the inn ; and 
though I have been a soldier in the German wars of '56, and 
seen many prisoners, yet never having seen any prisoners for 
preaching the Gospel, I thought it was my duty to call upon you, 
and therefore am I come. But you will have some things to con- 
verse about among yourselves, I therefore wish you good morn- 
ing.' On conversing a little with him, he withdrew. After an 



262 LIBERATED BY THE SHERIFF. 

interview with a Justice of Peace, to whose care we had been 
committed, we went on to the Sheriff's, about seven miles farther, 
under the care of the postmaster." 

To the Sheriff they were very unwelcome visitors. He was 
an old man, and having been apprized of their coming, was by 
no means disposed to commit himself to the violent proceedings 
of the anti-preaching chiefs. He put several questions, which 
were satisfactorily answered, and after consulting with a gentle- 
man who sat with him as his adviser, he said, " But have you 
taken the oaths to Government?" Mr. James Haldane replied 
that they had not, but that they were ready to do so instantly. 
The Sheriff said that he had not a copy of the oaths, and that 
they must therefore go to Inverary for the purpose. The words 
of the Toleration Act were quoted, to show that, " if required to 
take the oaths, they were to be administered before the nearest 
Magistrate." " Now," said Mr. J. Haldane, "you are the nearest 
Magistrate. "We are peaceable, loyal subjects, transgressing no 
law, and prepared to do all that the law requires, but to Inverary 
we will not go, except as your prisoners and on your responsibil- 
ity." The Sheriff had wished to make the affair a drawn battle, 
and to screen the magistrates from blame, at the same time that 
he declined to act against the preachers. But Mr. J. Haldane 
felt the importance of refusing all compromise, and of bringing 
the question to issue. The Sheriff was therefore obliged to give 
way, and after once more consulting with his friend, said, "Gren- 
tlemen, you are at liberty." 

The consequences were important. A great right had been 
vindicated, and the lawfulness of field-preaching admitted by the 
highest judicial authority of the country. The itinerants return- 
ed and preached at all the villages where they had been previous- 
ly expected. The people who had been before intimidated from 
attending, now flocked in crowds to listen. " At Whitehouse," 
says Mr. Campbell, "when Mr. Haldane returned, the whole 
town seemed to have turned out." "He was," said another who 
was present, " in one of his finest keys," and preached with an 
eloquence, a fervor, and animation, which seemed to have acquir- 
ed redoubled force from the circumstances in which he had been 
placed. Mr. Campbell, too, preached with good effect in the 
neighborhood ; and in his Journal records the following anecdote, 
which serves to show the ignorance of the Moderate ministers of 
that day. He says : "I remember a curious intimation which a 



ANECDOTE. 263 

parish minister gave to his people on the preceding Sabbath. It 
was told me by a lady who was present. ' I have to inform you 
that those preachers who have been for some time disturbing the 
peace of the country are expected here also, but I hope you will 
give them no encouragement. It is possible they may preach 
and pray better than I do, but sure I am they have not a better 
heart: " 

The arrest was clearly illegal, and the Magistrates concerned 
in it might have been prosecuted, more especially the gentleman 
who, to use the words of a Scotch Judge concerning another 
affair of a similar kind, acted more like a constable than a Justice 
of the Peace. It is believed that they were informed of their 
mistake by the then Lord Chief Justice Clerk, who had met the 
party on the road, and on inquiring the meaning of the formida- 
ble escort, was no doubt much surprised. But there was no desire 
to be litigious or revengeful. It was, however, a remarkable co- 
incidence, and one which will not be overlooked by those who 
remember that nothing happens by chance, that the very next 
time that Mr. Campbell met the fox-hunting Magistrate, who had 
acted towards him with so little chivalry, was within the pre- 
cincts of the Abbey of Holyrood at Edinburgh, where the Major 
was himself a prisoner at large within the asylum for debtors. It 
may be added, as one of the little anecdotes which have escaped 
oblivion, and flit across the scene amidst the lights and shades of 
these bygone days, that on the morning when they left the 
Sheriff the whole party were drenched in a heavy shower of rain. 
Arriving at a small Highland inn, they called for breakfast and a 
fire, where they might dry their wet clothes. There was but one 
fire-place in the hut, and they were all crowding round it, with 
their coats off, some wrapped in tartan plaids or blankets, whilst 
ham and eggs were in preparation. Mr. James Haldane, whose 
naturally joyous spirit quickly caught the ludicrousness of the 
scene, exclaimed, What a fine subject for a caricature: Field- 
preachers refreshing themselves after a shower ! 

The results of that tour to Kintyre were not evanescent, as will 
be seen from Mr. Campbell's account of a visit which he made to 
the same district two years after his arrest. It appears that, on 
their return to Edinburgh, they prevailed on a worthy preacher, 
who was a native of the place, to go and labor in Kintyre. He 
had just finished his studies at Mr. Haldane's seminary at Glas- 
gow, besides attending the College, and he keenly felt the spir- 



264 EEVIVAL IN KINTYRE. 

itual destitution and ignorance of his countrymen. Before Mr. 
James Haldane's visit, Kintyre was, as Mr. Campbell says, a kind 
of heathen part of Scotland. But Mr. Macallum agreed to go and 
occupy the fallow ground, now for the first time broken up. His 
labors, although at the beginning attended with little effect, were 
after a few months crowned with signal success, as will be seen 
by Mr. Campbell's interesting narrative : — 

" It was arranged that his head-quarters should be at the very town where 
we were arrested, and that he should regularly visit out-stations in the region 
round about. I remember the first evening I preached there, that the sergeant 
of the party who guarded us to the Sheriff sat at my right hand in his regi- 
mentals, which he had previously put on for the occasion, and was now a con- 
verted man ; and on my left sat the minister's man, also converted, whose case 
was somewhat singular. When Mr. Macallum first went there, of course this 
man was prohibited from ever going to hear him, but one evening Mr. Macal- 
lum preached in a barn adjoining to the minister's stable, indeed only separated 
from it by an old gable. The man being in the stable when Mr. Macallum was 
preaching, and observing a hole in the gable, he naturally put his ear to it, — for 
stolen waters are sweet. The Gospel passed through this hole to his ear, up 
to his understanding, and down to his heart, so he became a new man, and his 
soul not being able to live without food, he was obliged to attend the ministry 
of Mr. Macallum, and consequently lost his situation at the manse or parsonage 
house. 

" The people had been very anxious to build a place of worship, but no pro- 
prietor could be found willing to part with a piece of ground for that purpose ; 
but in a singular way their work was accomplished. There happened to be a 
contested election, in which the minister took a different side from the landed 
proprietor in his immediate neighborhood, which so incensed that gentleman, 
that, to be revenged on him, he gave to Mr. Macallum an acre of ground to 
build a chapel and a house for himself upon it, and assisted the people to erect 
them. There was also room on the ground for a garden. I have slept in the 
house. So thus God can make even the wrath of man to praise Him. 

" I paid a visit with Mr. Macallum and a young man to the western side of 
the Island of Arran, in order to preach at a few places, and to return to a sta- 
tion of Mr. Macallum's to preach on the Sabbath. The case of the young 
man was not a common one. He had been, like his companions, very ignorant 
and careless. He heard Mr. Haldane preach after being freed from his arrest, 
and went home greatly alarmed about the state of his soul. He could neither 
sleep nor work ; his poor friends did not know what to make of him, — some 
recommending one medicine, others to make trial of another. All failing, they 
were recommended to take him to the parish minister of a town a few miles 
off. His mother did so. He inquired of the mother what was the matter with 
him. She said she could not tell, but he could neither sleep nor work for fear 
of the day of judgment and hell. The minister informed her that a person had 
very lately come to the town to teach the people to dance, and was only to re- 
main for a short time ; he therefore advised her to put him for a month under 



REVIVAL IN KTNTYRE. 265 

Ma tuition ; he had little doubt but he would be relieved. She took lodgings 
for her son, and placed him under the dancing-master for a month. Of course, 
he began to teach him how to make one foot point to the east, and another to 
the west, and so on. About the second day he got tired of the foolish work, 
jumped out of the window of the dancing-room, ran home to his mother, de- 
claring it made him worse instead of better ; so he gave up the dancing. 

" Not long after this Mr. Macallum arrived, and commenced preaching in the 
neighborhood. The young man went to hear him, and was greatly relieved 
under the first sermon. During our visit to Arran I had several conversations 
with him, and found his mind peaceful, and very desirous to be educated for the 
ministry. 

" The Saturday being stormy, none of the sailors would venture to take us 
across the water to Kintyre. On rising early on the Sabbath morning, we found 
the wind very little abated, and the sailors determined not to venture. Hearing 
of a larger boat about two miles along the shore, we walked to it, and prevailed 
on the sailors to whom it belonged to attempt the passage, which turned out to 
be a very rough one. But the greatest difficulty was when we got within a 
hundred yards of the shore, which was strewed over with huge rocks, and foam- 
ing billows dashing over them. The sailors of course had taken down the sail, 
after which they paused for some time till a large wave had retired past us, 
when all immediately exerted their utmost strength at the oars, and the helms- 
man steered the boat in a serpentine course among rocks before the succeeding 
wave overtook us. It was the most skilful piece of seamanship I have ever 
witnessed. We preached near the spot where Mr. Haldane and I landed two 
years before, when only about three persons came to hear ; now we had a con- 
gregation of upwards of 400, the effect of Mr. Macallum's labors among them. 
On leaving them, about a dozen of the people walked on each side of my horse, 
telling what miserable creatures they were when I first visited their country. 
One said he then acted as fiddler at all the dancing weddings round about, 
which he immediately gave up when his eyes were opened. ' The people said 
I had broken my fiddle to pieces, but that was not true.' An aged, gray-headed 
man then said, ' I was at that time chairman of a whisky-toddy meeting, that 
regularly met for the purpose of drinking whisky and water in the evenings. 
After Mr. Macallum came amongst us, one ceased to attend, then another and 
another did the same, till I was left alone in the chair. I began then to wonder 
what it could be that they liked better than good Highland whisky. This de- 
termined me to go and see ; so I went and attended the ministry of our friend, 
and also found that which I liked better than whisky-toddy.' Thus the chair 
was vacated, and the meeting dissolved by the force of Gospel truth. Various 
others related their experience as we walked along, which I cannot now recollect, 
and have no written memorandum to help me. What was rather a novelty to me, 
was that I found the conversions as numerous among those who might be called 
the aged as among the young, which is seldom the case where the Gospel has 
long been preached. But in that part of the country I did not hear of any Gos- 
pel preacher having been there in that generation, or that of their fathers, con- 
sequently it was a kind of heathen part of Scotland. So it was, as among the 
heathens abroad, under our missionaries : conversions are as frequent among 



266 DR. LINDSAY ALEXANDER. 

the old as the young ; for if the Gospel does not soften it hardens ; it is either 
the savor of life or death." 

It is also related, that one of the parish ministers having in vain 
tried to oppose the preaching of the Gospel and to counteract its 
effects, became so miserable in witnessing its success, that, in a fit 
of despair, he threw up his living and emigrated to America. 

Such were the direct or collateral results of Mr. James Haldane's 
first visit to Kintyre with his excellent friend, for whose earnest 
faith, practical usefulness, and amiable qualities, he always enter- 
tained much true regard. It was with reference to such scenes 
as that with the magistrates of Kintyre and the Sheriff of Argyll, 
that Dr. Lindsay Alexander thus spoke in his eloquent funeral 
sermon, preached in February, 1851 : — 

" Of all the influences which have been operating upon our 
people during the half-century just closed, none, perhaps, has been 
more powerful and extensive in all its bearings than that which 
commenced when God touched the heart of James Haldane with 
evangelic fire, and sent him from secular occupations to the streets 
and highways of his native country to proclaim to his fellow-men 
1 the unsearchable riches of Christ.' 

" It needed such a man to accomplish such a work as he had to 
undertake. Men educated in the retirement of Colleges, — men of 
timid, sensitive, or delicate tastes and temperament, — men infirm 
of purpose or hesitating in action, would have been bent and scat- 
tered before the storm which interest and prejudice, and the old 
hatred of the human heart to all that is earnest in religious life, 
everywhere stirred up against the itinerant preachers. It needed 
a man who had been trained amid scenes of danger and of strife, 
and whose spirit was accustomed to rise with opposition, to en- 
counter and brave the tempest. Such a man was found in Mr. 
James Haldane. The habits he had acquired at sea, in battling 
with the elements and with the untamed energy of rude and fear- 
less men, stood him in good stead when called to contend for 
liberty of speech and worship in opposition to the bigotted and 
tyrannical measures of those who would fain have swallowed up 
alive the authors of the new system. He was not a man to quail 
before priestly intolerance or magisterial frowns. Dignified in 
manner, commanding in speech, fearless in courage, unhesitating 
in action, he everywhere met the rising storm with the boldness 
of a British sailor and the courtesy of a British gentleman, as well 
as with the uprightness and the unoffensiveness of a true Chris- 




DK. LINDSAY ALEXANDER. 267 

tian. To the brethren who were associated with him, he was a 
pillar of strength in the hour of trial ; while, npon those who 
sought to put down their efforts by force or ridicule, it is hard to 
say whether the manly dignity of his bearing or the blameless 
purity of his conduct produced the more powerful effect in para- 
lyzing their opposition, when he did not succeed in winning their 
applause." 






CHAPTER XIII. 

[1799—1801.] 

From the 6th of May, 1797, when Mr. James Haldane preached 
his first sermon to the rude colliers of Gilmerton, down to the 
middle of the year 1800, the work which he accomplished might 
have been sufficient for a life-time. Within that period were in- 
cluded his three first itinerancies, which, taken together, occupied 
little short of twelve months of incessant exertion ; during which, 
for the most part, he preached at least once every day, generally 
twice, often thrice, and occasionally four times. While stationary 
in Edinburgh, even before he was ordained, his labors in the 
surrounding villages, and his occasional excursions to a greater 
distance, were frequent and unwearied. After his ordination, his 
Mission "to the highways and hedges," as he called it, was not 
abandoned ; and on the Calton Hill, of Edinburgh, or beneath an 
overshadowing rock in the King's Park, or on the links of Brunts - 
field, JSTewhaven, or Leith, his voice was heard by thousands, in- 
terested, solemnized, or awed by his direct and earnest appeal to 
the heart and conscience. To his old friends and companions it 
was a marvel which they could not comprehend; whilst the 
masses, partly attracted by novelty, and partly touched by a 
sympathetic feeling of the powers of the world to come, were dis- 
posed to listen with delight to a voice which stirred their inmost 
soul and brought the gospel of salvation to 'their door. 

But, although so much engaged in public duties, no man was 
more exemplary in all the private relations of domestic life. 
With his children he was playful as if himself a child, yet with- 
out losing sight, for a moment, of the reverence and authority 
due to a parent. With an increasing family, his affectionate wife 
could not but feel the discomfort of the protracted tours of a hus- 
band so much beloved, and of the dangers, real and imaginary, 



MR. HALDAKE AT AIRTHREY. 269 

•with which thej were associated. Even the threats of magiste- 
rial influence, although proved to be unauthorized by law, were 
not then deemed groundless ; nor did she feel altogether reassured 
by the compliment paid to her own amiable qualities, when told, 
by some of her relations, that regard for her feelings had been a 
shield both to her husband and his brother. Still she endeavored 
to console herself by the thought of the service in which he was 
engaged, and by reflecting on the necessity of patience and self- 
denial. 

But, if the younger brother was thus actively employed, the 
exertions of the elder were not less arduous, although in a differ- 
ent way. He had made a noble effort to found a Mission in India, 
and one which he did not abandon until good men began to fear, 
lest the continued agitation of the plan might be considered as 
attempting to coerce the Government. Before he disposed of 
Airthrey, it was for several years the centre of attraction to 
Christians of all denominations. Clergymen and Dissenting min- 
isters from England and all parts of Scotland there found a cor- 
dial welcome. A kind of temporary chapel was fitted up at the 
stables within the wood, where such men as Dr. Bogue, Mr. Simp- 
son, Mr. Ewing, and others, were wont to preach on the week- 
days. The most animating and interesting topics connected with 
the progress of Christianity were discussed at Mr. Haldane's table ; 
and often did their host sit up ; with one or more of his guests, 
until the morning sun put to shame the candles, which had been 
once and again lighted to show them to their apartments. In all 
his plans his wife became nearly as much interested as her hus- 
band ; and when he sold his estate and reduced his establishment, 
in order that his means of usefulness might be increased, it is due 
to her to state, that she voluntarily resigned her carriage, and 
would never again allow of this expense. They had but one 
child, a much-loved daughter, who was in her twelfth year when 
they left Airthrey, and was married before she was eighteen to a 
nephew of Dr. Stuart's, of Dunearn, the late J. F. Gordon, Esq. 
There were, therefore, fewer domestic occupations to absorb Mrs. 
Haldane's attention, and this enabled her to devote much of her 
time to assisting her husband in the preparation of his works, by 
copying his manuscripts and making extracts from other writers. 
The venerable Dr. Innes, speaking of Mr. Haldane's early life, 
thus writes : — 

" In his latter days I had less of intercourse with your uncle. In early life 



270 REV, ANDREW FULLER. 

he was easy and pleasant, and could enjoy an innocent joke as much as any 
one. Many a happy day did I spend at Airthrey. And when I was engaged 
with your father, along with the late Mr. Aikman, in our itinerancy to the north 
of Scotland, Orkney, and Shetland, in the summer of 1799, Mrs. Innes remained 
with Mrs. Haldane three months. Often did she speak of the pleasure she 
enjoyed in his and Mr. Haldane's society, and of the advantage with which he 
appeared in the relations of domestic life." 

Beckoning from the time he left Airthrey, in the summer of 
1798, down to the summer of 1800, when he published his "Ad- 
dress on Politics," he had been the means of brirging over from 
Africa about thirty children of native chiefs, to be educated in 
the principles of Christianity. He had also opened the Circus, 
and made arrangements for large places of worship to be estab- 
lished, at his own expense, in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, 
Perth, Thurso, Wick, and Elgin. He had, even at that early 
period, selected about eighty students, and placed them in a 
course of education, to continue for two or three years, under 
Dr. Bogue, Mr. Ewing, and Mr. Innes. He had printed for circu- 
lation myriads of religious tracts, and distributed Bibles and Tes- 
taments, when as yet there was no London Tract or British and 
Foreign Bible Societies. He had formed, or assisted in forming, 
many Sabbath-schools ; and, finally, by bringing the well-known 
Andrew Fuller to Scotland, had given an impulse to the Seram- 
pore translations of the Scriptures, which were then languishing 
for want of funds, and were scoffed at as the abortive efforts of 
"a nest of consecrated cobblers." 

It was on the 13th of October, 1799, that Mr. Fuller first 
preached in the Circus of Edinburgh. He was previously known 
by his able defence of the truth against Socinianism, in that work 
which Mr. Wilberforce lent and commended to the study of Mr. 
Pitt, — " The Gospel its own Witness." As an earnest of further 
aid and an inducement to visit Scotland, Mr. Haldane presented 
him with 100/. for the Serampore translations.* In reference to 
this visit Mr. Fuller used to say, that, till -Mr. Haldane sent him 

*The origin of this donation is thus told by Mr. Fuller's biographer:— "Mr. R. 
Haldane happening to inquire of Dr. Stuart, what intelligence he had from the 
Baptist Missionary Society, the Doctor replied, ' Dismal intelligence ! The funds 
are low; and no success as yet.' ' As to funds,' said Mr. H., 'I always intended to 
give them something, but never did. Could you desire Mr. Fuller to draw on me 
for 100Z., and tell him, that if he would come down and preach, I am persuaded 
that my brother would welcome him, and so would Mr. Ewing.' The Doctor wrote 
by the next post. Mr. Fuller went down, and met with a kind reception." 



MR. R. HALDANE'S FIRST SERMON. 271 

his donation, he had not before known that it would be worth 
while to come to Scotland ; but that he now saw, in his own case, 
the truth of Sir Eobert Walpole's maxim, "That every man has 
his price." " I was present," says Dr. Innes, "at the first sermon 
delivered by Mr. Fuller in the Circus. It was on a Sabbath 
morning, when there was a large audience of both sexes, of dif- 
ferent classes in society. The impression produced at that time, 
both by his preaching and Dr. Bogue's, was powerful." 

Mr. Fuller's impressions are thus depicted in one of his first 
letteis: — "I have been in company with Messrs. Robert and 
James Haldane, Aikman, Innes, Ritchie, and some other leading 
men in the Circus connection. Certainly these appear to be excel- 
lent men, free from the extravagance and nonsense which infect 
some of the Calvinistic Methodists in England, and yet trying to 
imbibe their zeal and affection. Robert Haldane seems a very 
disinterested, godly man, and his wife as disinterested and amia- 
ble as himself. They have agreed to sell a large estate, and to 
live as retired as possible, in order to have the more to lay out for 
the furtherance of the Gospel." In another part of his journal 
Mr. Fuller observes: — "The characters principally engaged in 
this new denomination, as far as we can judge, seem to be some 
of the best in Scotland; excepting a few in other connections, 
such as Dr. Erskine, Mr. Black, &c. The two Haldanes, with 
Messrs. Innes, Aikman, and Ewing, appear to us very intelligent, 
serious, and affectionate in their work ; active, liberal, and, indeed, 
almost everything that we could wish. No drollery in their 
preaching, but very desirous to be and do everything that is 
right." 

But Mr. Haldane, whilst busy in directing great plans and in 
inducing others to make known the Gospel, was not himself indis- 
posed to assist in field-preaching. The success which attended 
his brother's tour in the summer and autumn of 1797 had also 
induced him, in the following spring, to follow that example. 
His first sermon was preached in the month of April, 1798. Dr. 
Innes was present, and gives the following account of it : — 

"After becoming thoroughly acquainted with the leading doctrines of Divine 
truth, he felt a strong desire publicly to preach them -to others. I was with him 
at his first attempt of this kind. We proceeded to Dunkeld on the Saturday 
evening, and next morning rode up to Weem, a few miles from Taymouth. After 
hearing sermon in the church, I requested the people, as they were dismissing, 
to remain, as a gentleman who was there wished to address them. This was 



272 AXECDOTE OF SERMON AT STTLTOX. 

something altogether new, especially as Mr. Haldane wore colored clothes. We 
got the accommodation of a barn from a good woman in the neighborhood, 
when he expounded the first eight or ten verses of the second chapter of the 
Epistle to the Ephesians with great clearness and force. This specimen showed 
how well he was qualified for public address. He, two years afterwards, took 
a house in one of the Straths (I think, Strath Bran) above Dunkeld, when he 
began to preach the Gospel to all around. But, with his characteristic vehe- 
mence and energy, he spoke so loud and so frequently, that he ruptured a blood- 
vessel, which made it necessary for him to desist." 

Mr. Haldane's voice was not naturally loud, but no doubt lie 
preached too frequently, and to congregations -which required 
more strength of lungs than it was safe for him to employ. His 
voice had neither the force nor the compass of his brother's, and 
he did not vary his notes in the way which often enabled the lat- 
ter to keep up attention and impart so much of solemnity and 
emphasis to his preaching. But it was calm, mellow, and pleasing, 
combining much both of power and pathos. 

Mr. Haldane himself used to relate an anecdote in reference 
to a sermon which he preached under cover of a large shed, be- 
longing to one of the principal inns on the Gfreat North-road. 
He was posting from London to Edinburgh, probably in 1798, 
as he does not seem to have been in London for several years 
afterwards. Arriving on the Saturday evening at Stilton, in 
Huntingdonshire, he resolved there to spend the Lord's-day. He 
found that the Gospel was not preached in the church, and, in 
fact, that it was scarcely heard in any part of the country. He 
proposed to the landlord to preach in the evening, in the yard 
of the hotel. The landlord expressed himself much gratified at 
the suggestion, cleared out the carriages, which stood under a 
spacious and convenient covering, and desired intimation to be 
given of the sermon. Mr. Haldane then addressed a numerous 
and very attentive congregation, and proceeded on his journey 
next morning. A few years afterwards, probably in 1802, he 
again spent a Sunday at the same inn, but hearing that there was 
then a Methodist, or TTesleyan Chapel, he went there to worship. 
The Gospel was faithfully preached, and he was retiring, at the 
close of the service, when an old woman, looking at him, ex- 
claimed, "Here's the beginning of it all !'' It turned out. on ex- 
planation with the minister and others, that the sermon he had 
preached some years before had been blessed to the awakening 
and conversion of some who heard ; that, in consequence, they 
were anxious to learn more of the truth and enjoy the blessing 



OPENING OF THE EDINBURGH TABERNACLE. 273 

of a faithful ministry. They applied to the Wesleyans, and the 
chapel in which he had that morning worshipped had been erected. 
In 1799 Mr. Haldane was so much occupied with the Edin- 
burgh, Glasgow, and Dundee Tabernacles, as well as with the 
institution of his seminary and the selection of the students, that 
he does not appear to have been, for any lengthened period, ab- 
sent from Edinburgh, where he had a house at the west end of 
Prince-street, and with Dr. Bogue paid a visit to Lundie House, 
as is mentioned in that good man's biography. During the same 
summer he also accompanied Mr. Kowland Hill, during a part of 
his second tour in Scotland, along with the Eev. Mr. Slatterie, of 
Chatham. In 1800 he spent the summer in Strath Bran, at a 
place called Balaloan, and preached much there, and in Dunkeld 
and the vicinity. It was in the month of September, 1800, that 
he was obliged to desist from speaking in public, in consequence 
of the haemorrhage in his throat, to which Dr. Innes alludes. It 
was not, however, of much consequence ; and, in after-years, he 
sometimes spoke for two or more hours continuously at public 
meetings; and, at Auchingray, used to conduct double service, 
lasting, according to the custom of the country places in Scot- 
land, three hours, every Lord's-day. The year 1800 was one of 
great scarcity, and provisions were very dear. The supplies of 
food and clothing provided for the temporal wants of the people 
by Mr. and Mrs. Haldane caused their residence in that district 
to be long remembered, by even those who did not so much 
value the spiritual instruction which they were so desirous to im- 
part. 

No sooner had Mr. James Haldane accepted the office of stated 
minister of the Circus, than his brother proceeded to erect for 
him a spacious place of worship, on a site purchased at the head 
of Leith AValk, Edinburgh, which, after the fashion of Mr. Whit- 
field's chapels, was called the Tabernacle. It was built by Mr. 
Adam Black, a member of the Circus Church, and father of the 
eminent publisher, so long Lord-Provost of Edinburgh. It was 
larger than any of the city churches, and calculated to accommo- 
date a greater congregation even than St. Cuthbert's. The en- 
trance was a descent of some steps, which conducted to three 
doorways, leading into the vestibule of a spacious area, rising like 
an amphitheatre, at a little distance from the pulpit. Above, 
there were two galleries, each capable of seating about eight 

18 



274: opening- of the Edinburgh tabernacle. 

hundred people. It was estimated that the whole place furnished 
sittings for three thousand two hundred persons, whilst, on spe- 
cial occasions, four thousand might be crowded within the building. 

The cost was entirely borne by Mr. Haldane, and when the 
building was finished, he offered to make it over in perpetuity 
to his brother. This Mr. James Haldane declined, alleging that, 
so long as it was a property devoted to religious purposes, it was 
as well in his brother's hands, who could, at his death, make 
what arrangements he pleased. But it was never contemplated 
by either of them that the property should become vested in 
trustees, so as to take it away from their own control, or expose 
it to the risks which have befallen so many orthodox endow- 
ments. 

In May, 1801, the Tabernacle was opened, and the congrega- 
tion, which had for nearly three years occupied the Circus, took 
possession of this new and commodious building. In that place 
did Mr. J. A. Haldane labor for nearly fifty years, and counted 
it his privilege, from first to last, to minister in the gospel of 
Christ. The accommodation which it supplied was at first par- 
tially, and in after-years entirely, free to the public, and whatever 
was produced by collections or otherwise, after paying the cur- 
rent expenses of the building, was appropriated to the propaga- 
tion of the Gospel. One of the last religious services performed 
in the Circus, was the ordination of Mr. Aikman, on the 17th of 
May. It was conducted by the late Eev. Mr. Moodie, of War- 
wick, and Mr. Ewing, of Glasgow, in concert with Mr. James 
Haldane, who preached the sermon from the words of our Lord's 
message to the Church of Philadelphia (Rev. iii. 2), " Hold that 
fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." The " Mis- 
sionary Magazine" remarks : " The congregation assembled on 
this occasion was immense, the services of the day were solemn 
and interesting, much fitted to impress the minds of the audience 
with the incalculable value of the Gospel of peace." 

Mr. Aikman, aided by ministers from England, had for some 
time generally supplied the Circus congregation in Mr. J. Hal- 
dane's absence. But the increasing number of Church members 
and the duties incident to such a vast congregation, rendered a 
plurality of elders almost indispensable. The two pastors labored 
together most harmoniously ; but it was not long before they 
saw the expediency or necessity of a second place of worship. 
As the Tabernacle was in the New Town, Mr. Aikman resolved 



MK. AIKMA^S CHAPEL. 275 

to build for himself a chapel in the Old, which obtained in Ed- 
inburgh the soubriquet of the Temple. This was done entirely at 
his own expense, unless a donation of three or four hundred 
pounds from Mr. Haldane be excepted, which was designed as a 
recompense for Mr. Aikman's trouble in assisting to teach the 
seminary after it was brought to Edinburgh. The " Missionary 
Magazine" for June, 1802, thus notices the event : — 

" On Lord's-day, the 30th of May, was opened a new chapel, lately erected 
in the street leading to Argyle-square, Edinburgh. This chapel has been built 
upon the same principles as the Tabernacle in this city, in the most perfect 
harmony with those connected in that important institution. The services of 
the day were in the following order : — Mr. Parsons, of Leeds, preached in the 
morning, from Matthew xvii. 20 ; Mr. Haldane in the afternoon, from Psalm 
cxlix. 2 ; and Mr. Aikman in the evening from Psalm xxii. 30, 31. A Church 
has since been formed of persons in communion with the Church at the Taber- 
nacle, for the observance of ordinances in this chapel, to be under the pastoral 
care of Mr. Aikman. Their formation was publicly recognized on Wednes- 
day evening, the 2d of June, when, after an introductory discourse on the na- 
ture and order of a Christian Church, Mr. James Haldane commended the 
Church and pastor to the Divine blessing by prayer, and gave a very suitable 
and affectionate address to both. The service was extremely inteiesting. It 
presented a scene not frequently witnessed, a Church separating in love, in the 
hope of the extension of the Redeemer's kingdom. May the Lord realize 
their most enlarged desires !" 

The students who had now finished their two years' course of 
preparation under Mr. Ewing, were now deemed fit for active 
service. Some went to Ireland, but for the most part they were 
scattered over Scotland. A letter to Mr. Haldane, dated Sligo, 
January 21st, 1800, gives an interesting account of the labors of 
one of them, a Mr. Morrison, who had been sent to itinerate in 
the north of Ireland. A letter is introduced from a correspond- 
ent of Mr. Haldane, thanking him for his liberality in furnishing 
the means for itinerating in Ireland, and praying that he may be 
" enriched with all the blessings of that joyful sound, which you 
are so blessedly instrumental in communicating to others." The 
success which attended this first Mission to the north of Ireland, 
was such as to stimulate further exertions in that quarter, against 
the strongholds of ignorance, error, and superstition. 

In May, 1801, Mr. James Haldane once more proceeded to the 
south, but on this occasion he took with him his wife and chil- 
dren, having established himself at Dumfries, as a centre from 
which he might radiate on preaching excursions. " For four 



276 



TOUR IN IRELAND. 



months," says the Magazine, " he preached in Dumfries every 
Lord's-day, to large congregations, in the open air, or under a 
tent, and he also preached once every day in the neighboring towns 
and villages, except in one week in the beginning of harvest." 
He was fond of riding, and had a powerful and excellent little 
gray horse, which seemed as patient of fatigue as its rider. Some- 
times in his excursions from Dumfries, he would make a circuit 
of fifty miles in one day, and preach three times. To the good 
effects of these labors there was abundant evidence during his 
life, and since his death some pleasing testimonies have been 
added, as to permanent results in the neighborhood of Dumfries, 
of which he probably never heard. 

At the close of his residence at Dumfries, he resolved to cross 
over to Ireland, and did so in the month of September, in com- 
pany with the late Eev. George Hamilton, of Armagh. Almost 
on his first landing he was admitted into the parish church of 
Portadown, and on several occasions exhibited the remarkable 
spectacle of one not in episcopal orders, and not even belonging 
to the Episcopal Church, preaching to large audiences in an Epis- 
copal diocese. The " Missionary Magazine " for the 19th of Oc- 
tober, 1801, observes: "We have been informed, that he has 
proached to crowded congregations in different parts of the north 
of Ireland ; and in a letter from himself of the 5th instant, dated 
Armagh, he says, c I stayed a few days in Belfast, and preached 
in the neighborhood. There is a great desire to hear in many 
places, and the people are uncommonly attentive. From all ac- 
counts, I hear that religion is at a low ebb.' Alluding to the 
young men prepared and sent over by his brother he adds, ' The 
Lord seems to have prepared the country for the young men, who 
will prove, I trust, eminently useful.' " 

There is a letter in the " Missionary Magazine" for December, 
1801, which is signed "J. H.," in which he mentions "some dis- 
plays of the power of God," in his late journey to Ireland, which 
appeared well calculated to excite gratitude and thanksgiving to 
the Lord. The dead chill of Arianism or Socinianism, to which 
he then alludes, no longer rests on the Presbyterians in the north 
of Ireland. A great revival has taken place during the fifty 
years which have elapsed since Mr. J. Haldane's first visit to 
Ulster, and nearly thirty years since, chiefly through the indefat- 
igable and fearless efforts of the Rev. Dr. Henry Cooke, of Bel- 
fast, a separation was made between those who profess to believe 



TOUR IN IRELAND. 277 

in the Lord as their Almighty Saviour, and those who regard 
him only as a man. 

" I had the happiness," says Mr. James Haldane, " of visiting a family of re- 
spectability as to worldly matters, where I also met with a signal display of 
Divine grace. They were Dissenters, but a Dissenting minister, in many parts 
of Ireland, is only another name for Arian or Socinian. They were remarkable 
for gaiety ; and as the family was large, the young people sometimes amused 
themselves by acting plays. This went on until within the last two or three 
years, and now salvation has come to that house, so that almost the whole 
family are truly devoted to God. 

■ Much as this account pleased me, I was not less gratified in hearing the 
means God had employed. He sent a pious young woman there, as a servant. 
She was ridiculed for her religion by the young ladies, but she did not render 
evil for evil, but would allow them to laugh at her, and then mildly reason with 
them. She made it her study to be attentive and useful, and would offer to 
read the Scriptures to them, when they went to bed. They soon fell asleep un- 
der the sound, but she was not discouraged. Having exemplified Christianity 
in her life, the Lord sent a fever to call her home to himself; and although the 
young ladies were not permitted to see her during her illness, they heard of 
her behavior, and it did not lessen the impression her conduct had made. 
Soon after, the two eldest began to make a profession of real religion ; the lit- 
tle leaven spread, and now all the nine young ladies appear truly pious. Nor is 
religion in this highly-favored family confined to them. Other means were em- 
ployed by God in producing this great change, but one of the two who first be- 
came serious informed me, that she chiefly ascribed it to the life and death of 
the servant-maid. What a proof of the power of practical Christianity ! What 
encouragement to servants, to all, to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour ! 

" This house is now open for the preaching of the Gospel. Any pious min- 
ister, whether Established, Itinerant, or Methodist, finds a hearty welcome. A 
very short warning brings hundreds of the country people together, and the 
spacious rooms are thrown open for their accommodation. May the blessing 
of Obed-Edom rest on the house ! 

" But the Lord did not stop here. Another family in the neighborhood, 
nearly connected with them, heard the tidings of all their young friends having 
run mad about religion. It occasioned much anxiety, and apprehension of the 
contagion spreading. At last, the mother of the latter family went to see how 
things were. She belonged to the Established Church, and when she visited 
her friends, Mr. Mathias (of the Bethesda Chapel, Dublin), a pious and able 
clergyman, was there. His preaching and conversation were much blessed to 
her, and now that family rivals the other in singing, ' Oh, to grace how much 
indebted !' I preached in the latter house to about two hundred people, al- 
though the neighbors had only been warned in the course of the day. The 
kindness I met with in both families was great, and it was doubly pleasant as 
it was conferred for His sake, who is able to reward it, and who will not suffer 
a cup of cold water given in his name to pass unnoticed." 

During his visit to the north of Ireland, Mr. J. Haldane was 



278 



MR. BUCHANAN. 









most kindly welcomed at the residence of his cousin-german, 
Colonel O'Hara, of O'Hara Brook, whose father, an Irish gentle- 
man of family and of fortune, when quartered with his regiment 
at Dundee, had married one of the sisters of Mr. J. Haldane's 
mother. The Colonel was the eldest son, and inherited his 
father's estate, and there were others of the family from whom 
also Mr. J. Haldane experienced much kindness, particularly 
Miss O'Hara, a sister of the Colonel, who resided at Coleraine, 
where one of her nephews, the Rev. James O'Hara, an excellent 
Evangelical clergyman, is now the Incumbent. It was at Cole- 
raine that Mr. J. Haldane first made acquaintance with Dr. Alex- 
ander Carson, then chiefly known as having lately seceded from 
the Presbyterian Synod, of which his genius and scholarship, and 
great critical acumen, had promised to render him one of the 
brightest ornaments. At Omagh he was kindly received by the 
late James Buchanan, Esq., who was for many years so well 
known as the British Consul at New York. 

The following is extracted from a letter from Mr. Buchanan, 
dated Quebec, Canada, June, 1851 : — 

" I first had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Haldane in 1804, who stayed a night 
at my house. I recollect, on his being requested to lead our family worship, 
he read the first chapter of 1st Peter, and his observations were deeply im- 
pressed on my wife. I have reflected often upon the many blessings I have 
derived from Bible friends. All other friendships or favors are deficient in 
those feelings which affect the heart. They are fleeting, and pass away. It 
was from that meeting I became acquainted with his brother, Robert Haldane, 
and through him with your ever valued and esteemed father, Mr. Hardcastle. 
I am now in my eightieth year, and am declining fast, but I have my tomb built 
near my house. I believe I told you I have engraved on it, ' God forbid I should 
glory, save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.' May the Lord lead us to 
hold fast our trust in him ! With unabated affection and regard for your hus- 
band, yourself, and family, I remain, my esteemed friend, your truly sincere 
friend, J. Buchanan. 

« Mrs. Haldane:' 

Mr. Buchanan died a very few months- after the date of this 
letter, in the hope of the Gospel which he had so long professed. 

It might be tedious to dwell longer on the tour to Ulster, but 
some extracts from a curiously characteristic letter from Thomas 
Scott, the Commentator, just before Mr. J. Haldane set out for 
Dumfries, will show the favorable light in which that good man 
regarded proceedings which so many would condemn as irregular. 
The letter is -dated Chapel-street, May 1st, 1801 : — 



REV. THOMAS SCOTT. 279 

" Dear Sir, — I think you must have misunderstood my answer to your 
brother's invitation, in which I stated myself entirely incapable of accepting, 
consistently with my present situation and engagements in the Lock Hospital 
and the Asylum, which must be entirely suspended if I leave home, as I have 
no resource in this respect, and never can get any person to fill up my place. 
Indeed, I do not think it possible for me to procure any supplies in the chapel, 
and in my other places where I preach, which would satisfy the congregations, 
for all the ministers in our line are fully employed, and many more wanted. 
Add to this that my continuance in my present situation is very doubtful, and 
if I do continue, I shall obtain the whole service. This is now in agitation, 
and my presence here will be peculiarly needful through the summer, as all the 
usefulness of my future life as a preacher seems greatly to depend upon my 
success in this concern, which is too complicated to admit of explanation. At 
present I have more encouragement in my ministry here than formerly, but as 
absence from his work is one of the charges brought against Mr. De Coetlogon, 
who preaches in the evening, which first gave occasion to the motion for dis- 
missing him, has put matters on the present uncertain footing, so it would be 
extremely imprudent in me to give up my principal strong ground, that / am 
always in my place at my work. If I am enabled to stand my ground, my field 
of usefulness will be considerably enlarged, and my prospects improved, but if 
the opposite interest carry it against my friends, I shall have to begin anew in 
some other place, and at my time of life this appears to me very unpromising. 
It does not appear in the least likely, that if I continue at the Lock, it will even 
be practicable for me to leave home so long as a journey to Scotland implies ; 
as I keep no curate, and no one can supply for me but a regular Episcopal 
clergyman, and the services daily required of me cannot be intermitted without 
violating my engagements, and acting contrary both to my conscience and credit. 
Should I be dismissed by the majority of the Governors, I should be set afloat, 
and I cannot tell whither the tides and currents might carry me. 

" But besides this I am engaged in a new edition of the Family Bible, on my 
own account, and, contrary to what you suppose, it will cost me quite as much 
labor as at the first, and with this peculiar circumstance, that if I do not go on 
with it steadily, it will ruin, in all probability, me and my family, and injure my 
creditors. If I never leave it for a week, I shall not finish in less than four 
years from the beginning, perhaps from this time, and I deem myself bound to 
apply as much as possible, as health and other duties will permit, and to under- 
take nothing inconsistent with it. If I am enabled to bring it to a conclusion 
I shall consider it as the main business of my life; but while it is in hand I am 
decided against any journeys but what are absolutely needful. I shall not enter 
on the subject of improvements, but they will be as many as I am capable of 
making. The marginal references will be printed in the clearest manner I ever 
saw any. Many of other persons' will be left out, many original added. I do 
my best. 

" I have no fear lest the circumstances of my not being able to come to Edin- 
burgh should in the least prevent good in your line ; you will find more accept- 
able and suitable preachers. Every man has his talent, and preaching a few 
sermons among strangers with effect is less my talent than some other things, 
and that of some other men. 



280 CATHERINE HALDANE. 

"I rejoice to hear that you have encouragement in your work and design. I 
sometimes hear of you, and more frequently think of you. I pray God to direct, 
assist, and prosper you more and more. My Christian respects to your brother 
and all friends. 

" I remain, dear Sir, your obliged friend and servant, 

" Thos. Scott." 

In October Mr. and Mrs. James Haldane returned from Dum- 
fries. Their second child, a little girl, then rather under six years 
old, was in a delicate state of health. She died on the 5th of June 
following, but not before giving very pleasing evidence of the 
grace of that Saviour, who said, " Suffer little children, and forbid 
them not, to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." 
Her affectionate father published an interesting little memoir, in- 
tituled, "Early Instruction recommended, in a Narrative of Cathe- 
rine Haldane, with an Address to Parents on the Importance of 
Religion." It is remarkable for its truthful simplicity. There is 
no attempt to paint or embellish, and it is not possible to read it 
without discerning the only motive which prompted the writer, — 
a desire to bring glory to Christ and be useful to children. It 
ran through eleven or twelve very large editions, and was widely 
circulated by the venerable John Newton, who admired it much, 
and considered it well calculated for usefulness. It was also trans- 
lated into Danish by Dr. Henderson some years afterwards, and 
was rather popular in Denmark, where the name, which is com- 
mon in that country, was an attraction. But the narrative is 
deserving of notice in these memoirs, because it in some measure 
discloses a little of the domestic life of a man much before the 
public. There are touches in it which indicate the tenderness of 
the fond parent, and the confiding affection with which that ten- 
derness was always reciprocated. Multitudinous as were his 
labors, especially during the years when he itinerated, he never 
found them an apology for the neglect of a single domestic duty, 
and on the contrary, he was exemplary, in no common degree, in 
all the relations of life. A few extracts may be given : — 

" From the time she could understand anything, Catherine was informed that 
she was to give an account of her thoughts, words, and actions, to God. She 
was early taught to listen to the reading of the Scriptures, and to such little 
religious books as are adapted to the capacities of children. She soon began 
to attend to the parables, and some of the stories of the Old Testament. Her 
mother usually spent two hours daily in reading, and talking on what she read, 
to Catherine and her elder sister. They were never led to regard this as a task, 
and as they found it entertaining, and were not desired to continue when they 






CATHERINE HALDAXE. 281 

began to tire, they always looked forward to it with pleasure, and were disap- 
pointed if anything occurred to prevent it. One or two of Mr. Newton's hymns 
generally formed a part of this exercise. Catherine was fond of them, and, of 
her own accord, committed some of them to memory from hearing them read. 
Accounts of pious children also early attracted her attention. 

" No particular impression appeared to be made on Catherine's mind by the 
Word of God till she was five years of age. She had listened to some parts 
of Scripture with seeming attention, but never appeared to consider herself 
particularly interested in what she heard till one Sabbath evening, when her 
younger sister was asking the meaning of being born again ; Catherine imme- 
diately replied, ' To get a new heart from God.' Her mother said she feared 
she did not know what a change of heart meant, and spoke to her seriously. 
Catherine was much affected, and after she went to bed said to her maid, ' I 
have just been thinking on that verse, " The soul that sinneth it shall die."' 
From this time Catherine always seemed to be much more concerned about 
religion than formerly. . . . 

"In February, 1801, Catherine's health began to decline; but for a consid- 
erable time her complaints appeared trifling, and hardly ever interrupted her play 
or her ordinary occupations. In May she went with us to Dumfries, and whilst 
there became gradually worse. . . . 

" She now spent more time at prayer than formerly, and took much pleasure 
in hymns, and hearing of Jesus. She had long been accustomed to hear a 
chapter of the Bible read to her after she was in bed. She would never allow 
this to be neglected, either before or after she became ill. . . . 

" Instead of playing on the Lord's-day, the children were taught to repeat 
hymns to one another when alone. One Lord's-day, her mother, on going out, 
desired her to keep a Sabbath-school. When she returned she heard Catherine 
praying, along with the rest, that if it were the Lord's will, he would restore 
her to health ; if not, to prepare her for death, and take her to himself. . . . 

" She got food frequently as she was able to receive it, and we observed that 
she never took anything without silently asking a blessing from God. One day 
I noticed this to her mother, in Catherine's presence, and said she was a good 
child. She was vexed to have it spoken of, and cried, till I changed the subject. 
This showed a spirit very opposite to ostentation. A child may talk about 
religion to please its parents; but Catherine at this time had not spirits for any- 
thing of this kind, and, indeed, the truth of God had evidently before her illness 
made an impression on her heart. 

" Although we had pleasing evidences of her mind being impressed about 
eternity, had noticed a remarkable change in her temper, and had observed that 
she never neglected prayer, yet we were anxious that she might be brought to 
speak freely, and tell us the present state of her mind. This was more de- 
sirable, as she did not show the same pleasure in hearing about religion as 
formerly, and seldom spoke on the subject. This led us to pray to our gracious 
Lord ; he heard us, and gave us every satisfaction we could have desired. In 
April, her mother took her into a room by herself, and asked her if she should 
pray with her, told her she was dying, and spoke to her of the love of Christ. 
. . . In the evening her maid asked her why she cried when her mamma 
spoke to her. Catherine said, she was sorry she had cried. Being asked, ' Was 



282 CATHERINE HALDANE. 

it because you are afraid to die V « No,' replied she. ' Why V said the maid. 
* Because,' said Catherine, ' I have a good Saviour.' 

" After she went to bed, she desired her maid to read a hymn, which she had 
heard sung a little time before. When she read these lines — 

" ' He takes young children to his arms, 
And calls them heirs of heaven/ 

she saw Catherine crying. Being asked why she cried, she said she was sorry 
for her sins. She said, she would like to see papa. I went and spoke with her, 
and prayed. She told me she loved Jesus Christ. She ever afterwards enjoyed 
comfort of mind, and never expressed a fear of death. 

" Thus was the Lord graciously instructing this dear little child, and, in some 
measure, perfecting praise from the mouth of a babe. Those who know their 
own hearts, and have been engaged in instructing children, will best judge 
whether mere human teaching could have so deeply impressed the truths of God 
on the mind of a child little more than five years of age. It is true the minds of 
children are tender and flexible, but the religion of Jesus Christ is not suited to 
their taste. They will not contradict you, tell them what you will on the sub- 
ject; but unless they are taught of God, they will soon show the natural alien- 
ation of their hearts from him, by total indifference about religion. 

" Two days afterwards, when she was much reduced, she desired to see her 
sister, of whom she was very fond. She put her arms round her neck and 
kissed her, saying, ' Love your Saviour : I am happy.' 

" There were several hymns in which she particularly delighted, and which 
she would often desire to be read to her, such as that beautiful hymn of 
Cowper's, — 

" ' There is a fountain filled with blood, 
Drawn from Immanuel's veins ; 
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood, 
Lose all their guilty stains.' 

She was particularly fond of the hymn, — 

" • In evil long I took delight," &c. 

And of the hymn, — 

" ' Descend from heaven, immortal Dove, 
Stoop down, and take us on thy wings ; 
And mount, and bear us far above 
The reach of these inferior things." 

" The Sabbath but one before her death, she asked for the hymn, — 

" ' There is a house not made with hands, 
Eternal, and on high ; 
And here my spirit waiting stands, 
Till God shall bid it fly.' 

Before it was finished, she became too ill to listen to it, 

" The last Lord's-day she was on earth her mother read to her several 
hymns of her own choosing. She desired Catherine to speak to her sisters, 



CATHERINE HALDANE. 283 

and sent for ;rau youngei than herself. Catherine put her arms round her neck, 
and bade her love Jesus. 

" Though she was so ill, she came every morning, by her own desire, to fam- 
ily worship. She said little, but the remarks she afterwards made showed she 
was not inattentive. A short time before her death, she said to her maid, 'I 
have just been thinking how happy I shall be when papa, mamma, Elizabeth, 
and the rest, meet me in heaven.' She added, ' It was a pretty chapter and 
hymn that papa read this morning, — that there would be no need of candle- 
light there.' 

" Two days before her death, she asked for the hymn, beginning, — 

" ' Bitter indeed the waters are 
Which in this desert flow ; 
Though to the eye they promise fair, 
They taste of sin and woe.' 

This had long been one of her favorites. She hardly spoke at all after this, 
but next day asked for the hymn, — 

" ' There is a land of pure delight, 
Where saints immortal reign ; 
Infinite day excludes the night, 
And pleasures banish pain.' 

The last words she uttered were to ask for the hymn, — 

11 ' Jesus, I love thy charming name.' 

On the 5th June, having for the last twelve hours been in a kind of slumber, 
she fell asleep in Jesus. 

" Thus lived and died a child, whose story is an illustration of our Lord's 
words, — ' I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast 
hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes ; 
even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.' She appeared indeed to 
have been taught of God. She had heard the Gospel, and had been made par- 
taker of that precious faith, which is the gift of God. She had been affected 
with the weight of eternal things during the winter before she became ill. We 
observed a remarkable change in her before her disease got to a great height. 
For some time after she was taken ill, she said she would not be afraid to die 
if she got a new heart ; but from the time she sent for me to pray with her, 
nearly two months before her death, she always expressed full confidence of 
going to Jesus. From that period I always went and prayed with her after 
she was in bed. If at any time I was later than usual, she kept awake, and 
frequently asked for me. She one day told her mother that she had not got a 
new heart at Dumfries, nor for a long time after ; but that lately she knew that 
she had got one, although she could not tell on what day. Her confidence did 
not arise from thinking all children went to heaven. In order to ascertain this, 
I one day asked her if she thought her elder sister would go to heaven if she 
died immediately. Catherine replied she did not know. She suffered much 
with great patience. Her illness was tedious and uncommon ; her head was 
much affected. Frequently when in bed she would repeat, 'My head, my 
head !' But the Lord gave her the victory over the fear of death, and gracious- 



284: DOMESTIC CHARACTER 

ly gave us satisfactory evidence, very uncommon at her age, that the instruc- 
tion she had received was not in vain. My reason for writing an account of 
her is, that other little children may be led to love the Saviour. How happy 
will she and I both be in the day of God, if we shall meet some children at the 
right hand of Jesus, who were brought to him by reading the account of 
Catherine !" 

The address to children and the address to parents which are 
subjoined to the account of Catherine are both earnest, practical, 
and striking. But this little narrative, so far as it concerns the 
present Memoirs, is chiefly valuable as showing the character of 
the man. Occupied as he was with a numerous Church and a 
larger congregation, called upon, even when at home, to preach 
in the villages and towns within a wide circuit round Edinburgh, 
pre-eminently exemplary in visiting the sick and comforting the 
afflicted, he never forgot that his first duty was at home. There 
all his affections were centered, and there it was his study to win 
the confidence and love of his children by the most endearing 
sympathy, both with their amusements and studies, whilst it was 
his grand object to train them up in the nurture and admonition 
of the Lord. Every night did he pray beside the bed of his 
drooping child, and gently lead her to the feet of that Saviour 
whom he served. With this no public duty was ever suffered to 
interfere when within reach of home, and neither fatigue nor 
business were apologies for its omission. It was the same to the 
very close of his prolonged life, and he who had by nature the 
dauntless spirit of the Hon, would at the same time evince the 
gentleness of the lamb, combined with all the tender affection of 
a sympathetic and loving heart. Great was the joy which 
reigned through the house whenever it was announced that, 
owing to any rare circumstance, he was to remain at home on a 
Lord's-day evening. His children gathered round his chair, 
whilst he examined them as to their knowledge of the Bible, lis- 
tened to the hymns or portions of Scripture which they repeated, 
or interested them by the recital of stories after the manner of 
the parables, in which the imagination was gratified, whilst truth 
was imprinted on their hearts. But above all, it may be said that 
in nothing was the nearness of his habitual communion and walk 
with God more distinctly visible than in the surpassing value 
which, at all times and under all circumstances, he constantly at- 
tached to prayer. With prayer he parted with any of his family 
on going to a distance ; with prayer and thanksgiving he wel- 



CAPTAIN GARDNER. 285 

corned them on their return ; with prayer he taught them to ask 
the blessing of God in regard to everything that concerned 
them ; whilst his own unclouded faith was that which imparted 
peace and joy to his heart, throwing the sunshine of cheerfulness 
around his path, so as to make his home happy and religion 
attractive. 

During his residence at Dumfries, he addressed a remarkable 
letter to his old friend, Captain Patrick Gardner, under whose 
care he had originally gone to sea, and with whom he made two 
voyages to India. To Gardner he had already written, as he had 
done to several of his old friends, but had received no reply. 
When at Dumfries, he was informed that he was then in London, 
about to sail in command of the Scaleby Castle. The letter was 
carefully preserved, and found among the papers of him to 
whom it was addressed. The following are some extracts : — 

"Dumfries, June 29, 1801. 
. . . " My giving up the sea at the time I did was, I believe, thought 
strange by many ; but I have never repented it, nor do I find my time hang 
heavy on my hands. We are all apt to imagine ourselves of great conse- 
quence, and I believe we often think we are occupying the attention of others 
when they hardly think of us. Perhaps this is the reason of my supposing 
you have heard of a considerable change in my views since we met. If I can 
judge by what I feel towards you, you would inquire about me ; and I could 
smile at the answer you might probably receive, and the surprise it might excite 
in you. Perhaps you might figure me gloomy and melancholy, incapable of en- 
joying the comforts of life, from fear of hell ; or I might be represented as a 
wild enthusiast, considering myself inspired or favored with particular revela- 
tions. On either of these suppositions, I could not blame you for not renewing 
our correspondence ; but neither the one nor the other is the case. I never 
was acquainted with solid, rational happiness till my attention was turned to 
religion. My former merriment was really like the crackling of thorns under a 
pot. I was governed by passion, and under such a guide no wonder if I missed 
my road. Although I believe I had as few qualms of conscience as any one, 
being completely unconcerned about religion and eternity, my own mind was 
not altogether satisfied. I knew I must die, yet it was a subject I banished 
from my thoughts. The peace of mind I enjoyed did not arise from any 
good reason. I had to hope either that I should be happy or be annihilated 
after death, but from total inconsideration, like a person who should stop his 
ears and shut his eyes when danger was approaching, and then fancy himself 
safe. My present peace of mind does not arise from any vision or supposed 
new revelation I have received. I had a book by me which, from prejudice of 
education, and not from any rational conviction, I called the Word of God. I 
never so far surmounted the prejudice of education as to profess Infidelity, but 
I was a more inconsistent character. I said I believed a book to be a revela- 
tion from God, and treated it with the greatest neglect, living in direct contra- 



286 DEATH OF SIR RALPH ABERCROMBY. 

diction to all its precepts, and seldom taking the trouble to look into it, or if I 
did, it was to perform a task, — a kind of atonement for my sins. I went on 
thus till, having much time on my hands when the Melville Castle lay at the 
Mother Bank, I began to think I would pay a little more attention to this book. 
The more I read the more worthy it appeared of God; and after examining the 
evidences with which Christianity is supported, I became fully persuaded of its 
truth. There is no man who considers the evidences with the smallest impar- 
tiality but must come to the same conviction. Even Rousseau admits the 
strength of the evidence, but he says he remains in suspense, because there 
are many doctrines which he thinks unworthy of God. In other words, he will 
not submit his pride of understanding to a book which himself allows is sup- 
ported by the strongest evidence as coming from God. This suspense is now 
over, and neither he nor any other man shall be able to complain they have 
been hardly dealt with. Infidels, whether by profession or practice, shall be 
convinced that they meet with no more than they deserve. The error lies in 
their heart, not in their understanding; they choose the darkness; they deter- 
mine to live in sin, and they persuade themselves while here, being blinded by 
passion, they shall escape punishment. My paper, and I fear your patience, is 
done, but the subject is important. I beg you would seriously consider it. I 
hope to hear immediately from you, and am, 

" Very sincerely yours, 

" J. A. Haldane. 
" Patrick Gardner, Esq., Commander of the Scaleby Castle" 

A few months earlier in the same year, Mrs. James Haldane lost 
her uncle, Sir Kalph Abercromby, who died on board the Fou- 
droyant, of the mortal wound received in the great battle of Alex- 
andria, which led to the conquest of Egypt. The letter of sym- 
pathy which her husband wrote to Lady Abercromby on this 
event was striking and beautiful. Whilst in a tone of becoming 
sympathy it did homage to the private virtues and illustrious 
character of the departed hero, whose name will go down with the 
history of his country, it displays the surpassing importance of 
heavenly things, and unfolds the consolations of the Gospel in 
language alike distinguished for its directness, its simplicity, and 
its truth. This letter was mentioned by Lady Abercromby with 
the interest of one who valued the truth it set forth, when on an 
evening at the house of Mr. James Haldane in George-street, near- 
ly sixteen years afterwards, the late Hon. and Rev. Gerard Noel 
had been, at her request, invited to be present, and deliver one 
of those beautiful expositions which made his visit to Edinburgh, 
in 1817, so pleasantly remembered. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

[1802, 1803.] 

During- five summers, beginning with that of 1797, Mr. James 
Haldane had devoted himself to long and laborious itinerancies, 
for the purpose of preaching the Gospel. In the summer of 1802 
he sought no repose ; but to recruit the health and spirits of his 
wife, after the loss of their little daughter, they went, with their 
eldest child, to Buxton, in Derbyshire. The younger children 
were left at the seaside, under the kind care of their uncle and 
aunt ; but wherever Mr. James Haldane went, it was in the spirit 
of one whose lips had been touched as by a live coal from the 
altar, and in whose breast there burned a flame of love for Christ 
which could not be extinguished. His visit to Derbyshire was a 
season of revival and awakening. At the hotel at which he stay- 
ed there were many strangers, to whom he had the opportunity 
of making known the Gospel. He also preached in the ball-room, 
and was welcomed by a pious Irish Bishop, whose son, a zealous 
clergyman of the United Church, did not scruple to accompany 
him on several preaching excursions in the neighborhood. 
Amongst other places, they went to Macclesfield, in Cheshire, by 
invitation of the Eev. Melville Home, who offered the use of his 
church and pulpit. But when the two friends arrived at Maccles- 
field, it turned out that some demur had been made to the irregu- 
larity of this proceeding on the part of one of the churchwardens. 
The sermon was therefore adjourned from the church to the church- 
yard, where the good Incumbent attended, along with the Bishop's 
son, and took part in the service by invoking the blessing of Al- 
mighty God on the word spoken by his Scottish friend. At Cas- 
tleton-of-the-Peak they also met with Episcopal sanction, as the 
Yicar not only heard the sermon, but after it was over, begged to 
offer his personal thanks to the preacher. At one place, near 



288 SUCCESSFUL LABORS OF A CATECHIST. 

Buxton, there was a good but somewhat eccentric man, who, 
amidst surrounding darkness, for many years stood alone as a 
missionary to the poor. When he first heard Mr. James Hal- 
da ne ? s faithful and energetic declarations of the Gospel of free 
salvation, he was so moved with surprise and delight that he 
could not contain his exultation. He afterwards introduced 
himself, and said that he had an " independency" of 20Z. a-year, 
which enabled him to devote himself to the cause of Christ. 
There were several other interesting occurrences connected 
with the visit to Buxton, Matlock, and other places ; and he 
did not leave the neighborhood before he had proclaimed the 
message of salvation in many a hamlet, village, and town, as 
well as on the green hill-sides of the romantic county of Derby, 
and the neighboring districts of Staffordshire. Everywhere 
his preaching was acceptable, and often it was made manifest 
that the word was with power. 

In the summer of 1803 he prepared for another excursion into 
a part of Scotland from which he had hitherto considered himself 
excluded by his ignorance of the Gaelic language. But a very 
remarkable revival had taken place in Breadalbane, through the 
instrumentality of one of the Dundee students, who had been sent 
there by Mr. Haldane. In the neighboring district of Blair Athol, 
Mr. Stewart, of Moulin, had been enabled to report that, since 
Mr. Simeon and Mr. James Haldane visited his manse, about 
eighty people had been awakened by his own preaching to a deep 
and abiding sense of the Gospel of salvation. The account he 
published was very striking ; but the revival in Breadalbane, al- 
though begun by a humbler instrument, was not less plainly the 
work of God. 

The awakening which followed the labors of Mr. Macallum in 
Kintyre was ushered in by the preaching of Mr. James Haldane 
and Mr. Campbell. That in Breadalbane was entirely begun by 
a devoted catechist, of lowly origin, a Mr. Farquharson, who had 
been recommended on account of his earnest zeal and godliness 
to Mr. Haldane's class at Dundee, but whose capacity of learning 
seemed, on trial, hardly to warrant his persevering in academical 
studies. He was therefore sent away to Breadalbane, at the end 
of his first six months, with the view of trying whether he might 
not be of use as a Scripture-reader amongst the poor and unedu- 
cated Highlanders. The district was at that time destitute of 
Evangelical preaching. There were actually no. Bibles, scarcely 



ANECDOTE. 289 

I 

any Testaments, and the people lived without prayer. So great 
was the opposition to the devoted catechist when he commenced 
his labors, that, in a circle of thirty-two miles round Loch Tay, 
there were only three families that would receive him, whilst 
every inn or public-house was shut against him. But it often 
pleases the Lord to work by the feeblest instruments, and " to 
choose the weak things of the world, and things which are de- 
spised, to confound the things that are mighty." Despite of oppo- 
sition and neglect, he went from village to village during the 
winter, reading the Bible, and speaking the words of salvation to 
all who would listen. In the spring of 1801 there was some 
awakening, and early in 1802 so extraordinary a revival took 
place, that in a very short time there were about one hundred 
persons, previously ignorant of the Gospel, who seemed to be 
truly converted. These conversions produced a great sensation, 
and occasioned much opposition. It brought on in these High- 
land glens a kind of religious persecution. 

" Families," says Mr. Kinniburgh, in his " Historical Sketch," "were divided, 
false reports were raised and circulated for the purpose of bringing the new 
converts into disrepute. Violent measures were devised and accomplished to 
deprive them of their houses and farms, and in not a few were their lives in 
jeopardy ; but they took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, knowing that in 
heaven they had a better and enduring substance. They thought less of their 
Bufferings than of the happiness of suffering for Christ. Here it deserves to be 
noticed, that when the work was going on in Breadalbane, there were instances 
in which, when the converts acted with decision, persecution gradually subsided, 
but when there was apparent wavering it increased." 

Amongst the anecdotes of the new converts and of their altered 
conduct, the following is an example : — a number of young men 
had been addicted to poaching on the Earl of Breadalbane's 
estates, and were generally brought annually before his Lordship, 
who usually dismissed them, with a threatening rebuke. One of 
these, who was also a smuggler, had his attention directed to the 
Gospel and was converted. The next time the poachers were 
brought before the great Earl, he missed the smuggler, and asked 
what had become of him. The game-keeper replied, "My Lord, 
he has become a missionary, and will never trouble us again." 
His Lordship observed, "I wish all these young men were mis- 
sionaries." The same young man had been in the habit of ille- 
gally making malt, but, after he embraced the Gospel, he had no 
peace of mind until he had informed upon himself and delivered 
to the Excise all the malt which he had on hand. 

19 



290 FEUITS OF ITINERANCIES. 

In 1802, the humble and holy man through whose instrumen- 
tality this revival took place was himself sent a prisoner to Aber- 
deen, for preaching the Gospel in Braemar. Mr. Farquharson 
had not been many hours in gaol before a lawyer waited upon 
him and put a book into his hand, stating that a part of it was 
written in the very cell in which he was confined. "Bead it," 
said the gentleman, "and you will soon be liberated," and imme- 
diately retired. To his no small surprise, Mr. Farquharson found 
it to be " Eutherford's Letters." This led him to muse on the 
sufferings of the godly author, and he thought his own but light 
in comparison. Mr. Farquharson was soon released, in conse- 
quence of the intervention of his friendly visitor, who was better 
acquainted with the Toleration Act than Mr. Farquharson's igno- 
rant persecutors. 

The good work was not confined to Loch Tay. The pastor of 
the Tabernacle, at Dunkeld, in a letter, dated April 14th, 1803, 
reports that, exclusive of those who had been called under Mr. 
Stewart's ministry, at Moulin, he could himself speak of 145 who 
had experienced the power of Divine grace around Dunkeld since 
Dr. Bogue preached there as the first itinerant. By that sermon 
he knew of one who was converted. The rest were the fruits of 
the labors of the two Messrs. Haldane, Aikman, Ewing, Innes, 
Hey, Garie, and Campbell (of Dunkeld). From Aberfeldie Mr. 
Dewar, one of Mr. Haldane's students (but not the same who is 
now the Principal of Marischal College, Aberdeen), writes, in 
April, 1803, that no less than fifty-seven in that neighborhood 
attributed their salvation to Mr. Haldane's missionaries. Two 
years before this time, Lady Glenorchy's chaplain, the good Mr. 
Garie, of Perth, had died, and, in a beautiful letter, written shortly 
before his death, he mentions having, within a few weeks back, 
received seventeen out of twenty-one applicants for Church mem- 
bership, "most of them young persons, and lately awakened." 
He adds, " A young man, last week, received his first impressions 
under a sermon preached by Mr. James Haldane, in the mill at 
Inver ; and a young woman, who had made considerable advance- 
ment under one he preached in the chapel here upon the jailor." 
The good man adds, "Although, in general, I feel a willingness 
to leave the world, whenever my Master shall call me, yet I have 
often, on a Saturday, felt a peculiar unwillingness to die till the 
Sabbath was over." 

The accounts from Caithness were, if possible, still more de- 



MR. L. MACINTOSH. 291 

lio-htful. At the same time that the missionaries in Breadalbane 

o 

were writing home the intelligence jnst noticed, the excellent 
Mr. Cleghorn, the pastor of the Church at Wick, was detailing 
the blessings that had attended the previous itinerancies in Caith- 
ness. Whilst he reckoned at least forty cases of conversion 
which, at Wick alone, had come under his own knowledge, as 
the first-fruits of Mr. James Haldane's preaching in that place in 
1797, he mentions, that now he reckons 120 as giving evidence 
of the power of Divine truth. He adds, that at Thurso the Gos- 
pel had been as successful, " if not more so." 

It is not, then, to be wondered at, that Mr. James Haldane 
longed to visit, not only the scene of his own first itinerancy, but 
also Breadalbane and its vicinity. Accordingly, Mr. Campbell 
relates how he received a sudden summons to return to Edin- 
burgh from the west, where he was preaching, and that, on his 
arrival, he found the object was, " to see if I would consent to go 
on a preaching tour of three or four months with Mr. James Hal- 
dane, to visit all the cities, towns, and large villages, in the north 
of Scotland, from Edinburgh to the Orkney Islands." Mr. Camp- 
bell adds, " Being the employment which, at that time, I loved, I 
instantly complied, and commenced making preparation for the 
journey." 

On this occasion they travelled on horseback, attended by Mr. 
James Haldane's faithful servant, Daniel Macarthur, a pious High- 
lander, whose knowledge of Gaelic made him particularly service- 
able in the Celtic districts. They left Edinburgh early in May, 
and Mr. J. Haldane preached on the first Lord's-day a striking 
sermon in the Tabernacle of Perth, from a text appropriate to the 
errand of mercy on which he was bound, Jeremiah hi. 12, 13 : 
"Go and proclaim these words unto the north, and say, Keturn, 
thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord ; and I will not cause my 
anger to fall upon you : for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I 
will not keep anger forever." One of his hearers, and that for 
the first time, was Mr. Lachlan Macintosh, who was soon after- 
wards admitted into the seminary at Edinburgh, and has been 
long respected as the travelling agent of the Baptist Home Mis- 
sionary Society. Mr. Macintosh relates how it happened that, 
after the sermon, whilst a group of ministers and others were 
gathered round the preacher, he was introduced to Mr. J. Hal- 
dane, who kindly spoke to him, and engaged him to announce 
the sermons as far north as Mr. M. had to go and twenty miles 



292 ANECDOTE. 

further, beginning at Bankfoot, Dunkeld, up to Logie Eate, where 
they turned aside to Breadalbane. 

"Though, at this distance of time," says Mr. Macintosh, "I cannot remember 
the sermons, I well remember their effects, both on myself and others. First 
our views were brightened and our hearts encouraged in the ways of the Lord. 
The sermons I had been used to hear were a complete jumble of grace and 
works, — our endeavors and the sufferings of the Son of God. Often nothing 
about Christ at all, but that God was merciful, so that I could not tell on what 
I was to trust for salvation. But in the sermons I heard from Mr. Haldane the 
distinction was made in the clearest and most solemn manner. The sinner was 
shown to be a guilty, helpless rebel, and all his righteousness as filthy rags. 
Then Christ was proclaimed as a glorious and all-sufficient Saviour, his righteous- 
ness free to all who believed, whilst all who believe would be constrained by 
love to obedience, and in order to save themselves, but because they were saved 
by his blood. The text which he quoted to me, on parting, I never can forget: 
' Cleave to the Lord with purpose of heart.' It was a text which might have 
been the motto of both the brothers from the day when they knew the grace 
of God in truth." 

On the occasion of the sermon at Perth there was one little 
incident annoying at the moment, but in after-years only remem- 
bered as amusing. Mrs. James Haldane, in her affectionate anx- 
iety for her husband, had strictly charged his servant to watch 
over the comforts of his master, and, amongst other things, to be 
careful to make him take a glass of port wine immediately after 
preaching, to strengthen his throat. At the close of the sermon 
the faithful attendant, true to his orders, but interpreting them 
somewhat too literally, instantly walked from the vestry up the 
pulpit-stairs, carrying with him a glass of port, and very unsea- 
sonably interrupted his master, who had just sat down after con- 
cluding a very solemn appeal, by saying, "Here's the wine, Sir." 
The short reply was, "Go away, Daniel." Some years afterwards, 
when Daniel had left his master's service, he became a messenger 
in the house of the Edinburgh Commercial Banking Company, 
by whom his punctual attendance to orders and strict Christian 
fidelity were for many years greatly valued. 

On arriving in Breadalbane they were enabled to report, that 
" there had been no exaggeration ; and that there really was a 
cloud of witnesses to the power of Divine truth, who were living 
by the faith of God, waiting for his second and glorious appear- 
ing." A pestilential fever was raging in the country, and pre- 
vented many from hearing the preachers, but it did not prevent 
either of the itinerants from visiting the sick and dying. 



FEVER IN" BREADALBANE. 293 

The venerable Mr. William Tulle-en, pastor of the Highland 
Church, at the Bridge of Tilt, in Athol, thus writes : — ■ 

" Nearly fifty years ago Mr. James Haldane made his first tour through the 
Highlands. He arrived in Breadalbane, where my wife's family resided. Her 
mother, who was a good woman, was at that time dangerously ill of fever, 
which was very prevalent in that part of the country. When Mr. Haldane ar- 
rived, he was made aware of this pestilence, and referred to it in preaching. 
When the sermon was ended, he entered the house and prayed at the bed-side 
of Mrs. Sinclair, who was so ill that not one of her neighbors would enter the 
door of her house for fear of infection. Before Mr. Haldane left that quarter 
he urged upon those that feared God to meet for prayer, that the Lord might 
remove the pestilence, and it was observed by all, that in a very short time the 
fever greatly abated, for many had died of it ; and not long afterwards it dis- 
appeared altogether. And that visit was much blessed to many, both in soul 
and body. 

" Mr. Sinclair was very much opposed to anything that had the appearance 
of dissent from the Established Church, but he was overcome by the kindness 
of Mr. Haldane, remarking, when he left, ' If that had not been a man of God, 
he would not have come into my house when there was so much danger.' 
From that time Mr. Sinclair showed the greatest kindness to Mr. Haldane ; and, 
after his death, his son, Donald Sinclair, opened his house to him and the other 
preachers, when they were in that part of the country. Upon Mr. H.'s second 
visit to Breadalbane (in 1805), many thousands heard from his lips the Gospel 
of peace, and many came from a great distance to hear. 

" When he arrived in Blair Athol, he put up at the inn at Old Blair, and re- 
quested the landlord to allow him the use of the inn-hall, that he might preach 
the Gospel to the people. This was most pointedly refused. But Mr. Hal- 
dane was not to be discouraged. He went over all the village, but could not 
find a place. At last a man named Donaldson, a wright (carpenter) to the old 
Duke of Athol, offered him«the use of his house and barn, where Mr. Haldane 
preached to multitudes, who came from all parts of the glens round about 
Blair. It is worthy of remark, that when the Duke turned out all the people 
from Old Blair, Donaldson was allowed to remain, which he did till his death, 
which took place only two years ago, at the advanced age of 102 years. When 
this circumstance was stated to Mr. J. Haldane, by one of our Highland friends, 
he was very much interested, and said that he remembered the circumstance, 
and expressed a great desire to know all about Donaldson's death." 

Mr. Tulloch's letter closes by stating, that u the name of Hal- 
dane will long be remembered with veneration throughout the 
Highlands." 

After being separated for some time, preaching and visiting in 
several districts, the itinerants met at Dalwhinnie, where, in the 
month of June, "the snow was deep on the hills, and falling 
thick ; we had a great fire of peats, but it was so cold that great- 
coats were put on. Yet, next day, at Baldeu, we preached to 



294 ORKNEYS. 

about four hundred people, at the side of a birch- wood, which 
kept off the cold wind. Mr. Haldane preached in the wood of 
Aviemore." They passed through Badenoch, Inverness, Ding- 
well, and Cromarty, preaching as they went. The north side of 
the frith was once called the Holy Land, "because of its faithful 
ministers." They could not then hear of " one who preached the 
Gospel. Such was the length of the days, that, from a very small 
New Testament, Mr. J. H. could read on the mountain at eleven 
o'clock at night.' 

Onwards they proceeded, preaching as they went, till they 
arrived at John o'Groat's house, where they saw only the founda- 
tions of the old castle, and thence crossed in the mail-boat, by 
South Eonaldshay, to Kirkwall, the capital of the Orkneys, where 
large and listening congregations, in front of the Bishop's Palace, 
welcomed the return of itinerant preaching. One morning Mr. 
Campbell was surprised to find only a congregation of women at 
the place where he preached. But on returning to the town, the 
mystery was solved, by meeting Captain Gourlay, E. N., who 
had come ashore, but not, as was supposed, with the intention of 
pressing the men. The Captain breakfasted with them. He was 
himself, for many years, a member of the Tabernacle Church, 
whilst flag-captain to the Admiral on the Leith station. "Ona 
lovely morning," says Mr. Campbell, "Mr. Haldane and I left 
Kirkwall in two boats, he to visit the western half, and I the east- 
ern, of the group of islands." It would be easy to fill pages with 
a recital of hardships and privations experienced in these islands, 
of which Mr. J. Haldane however seldom spoke, and never, ex- 
cept as a subject of amusement. At one place, before they sepa- 
rated, they were in the street of a small town, at ten o'clock at 
night, seeking in vain a place of refuge for the night. At last 
they were - directed to a farm-house, where they asked for shelter, 
and were cordially received. Next day, as Mr. Campbell tells, 
that, after preaching, they went into a house, hoping to be offered 
refreshment, yet afraid to offend by tendering payment, but got 
nothing but a cup of milk and water. " They then walked about, 
intimating another sermon, until they were tired." At length 
they called at the house of a slater, who hospitably provided them 
with bread, milk, and cheese. Damp sheets, hard beds, or none 
at all, and a scanty supply of food, were amongst the luxuries of 
these remote itinerancies. But they had both learned " to en- 
dure hardness, as good soldiers of Jesus Christ," to sympathize 



TOUR IN THE NORTH OF ENGLAND. 295 

with the far greater privations of the first missionaries of the 
Gospel, and to regard these discomforts only as trifles incidental 
to their campaigns in the service of the King of kings. 

Mr. Campbell was to have preached at an island between 
Kirkwall and Stronsay, but a heavy gale of wind arose, which 
prevented his arrival. However, he reached Kirkwall the day 
after, when he found, says his biographer, that Mr. James Hal- 
dane, who, like " an old sailor, had seen, from the state of the 
weather, that it would be impossible to reach it," had, with char- 
acteristic energy, not only discharged his own duties, but pro- 
cured a boat from Kirkwall, and having the gale blowing in his 
favor reached the island, and preached himself to the people. 
From Kirkwall they proceeded to Hoy, and then crossed the 
Pentland Frith, of whose tumultuous waves, rushing tides, gurg- 
ling whirlpools, and perpendicular rocks, Mr. Campbell gives a 
graphic description. 

After leaving Thurso, they preached on their way to Edin- 
burgh at all the principal towns in their route. 

Shortly after their return in September, of the same year, Mr. 
James Haldane undertook a short tour with Mr. Campbell to the 
south of Scotland and north of England. On this occasion Mrs. 
James Haldane accompanied her husband, and with them Mr. 
Campbell posted to Berwick, where he remained to preach on the 
Lord's-day, and Mr. and Mrs. J. Haldane next day proceeded to 
Alnwick, where they were hospitably entertained by Mr. and 
Mrs. Kate. On the following Wednesday, having been joined by 
Mr. Campbell, they journeyed to Carlisle, by Flamlingham and 
Chaullingford to Glenwhilt, where Mr. J. Haldane, as usual, gave 
an address, at the inn, to all who chose to attend at prayers. 
Passing through Gilsland, they arrived at Carlisle on the follow- 
ing day, when Mr. Campbell proceeded by the mail to Longtown, 
where, however, he was refused the chapel to preach in, " though 
Mr. J. Haldane's preaching, and mine, had been the means of its 
being built." It was now attached to the Establishment. Mr. 
and Mrs. J. Haldane arrived at Longtown on the following day, 
and proceeded by Annan to Dumfries, where a Tabernacle had 
been built, of which Mr. Haldane became the sole proprietor, al- 
though it was originally built at the joint expense of the two 
brothers. After a sermon, which Mr. J. Haldane preached at 
Garlieston, the Earl of Galloway, who invited them to his house, 



AYESH1KE. 

announced his willingness to grant a site for a chapel in the vil- 
lage, as the church was three miles distant. 

At Wigton the Provost supped with them at the inn. He had 
been previously in the habit of giving to Mr. James Haldane the 
use of the Town Hall. But, on the first occasion, when he asked 
permission to announce sermon by the bellman, the Provost re- 
plied, " ISTo, no, Sir ; you cannot preach here." Mr. J. Haldane 
answered, "I do not ask liberty to j^^ach, but to ring." " Then 
you will preach." "Yes, certainly." " Yery well, you may send 
out the bellman." At Sanquhar, one of the places on their route, 
the Anti-burgher minister had inflicted Church discipline upon 
some of his people five years before, for hearing Mr. James Hal- 
dane. " But to-day," says Mr. Campbell, " some Anti-burghers 
broke through to hear me, and one of them told the minister yes- 
terday that they would hear us." 

They returned through Ayrshire, preaching as they went. On 
Saturday, the 24th of September, they arrived at Greenock, and 
on the following Lord's-day Mr. J. H. preached in the morning 
at Auldkirk, and in the evening at the Burgher meeting-house 
of Greenock. "The crowd," says Mr. C, "was great." On the 
27th, Mr. Campbell having gone to Bishoptown, Mr. J. Haldane 
went to Paisley. There " he preached to a full house." On the 
following evening he preached at the Tabernacle, at Glasgow, to 
a large audience, although a week-day. On the 30th, they all 
breakfasted at Mr. Ewing's, and, having left at eleven o'clock, 
arrived in Edinburgh at half-past five in the afternoon. Mr. 
Campbell seems thus to announce the time, as indicating the ra- 
pidity of posting, as compared with the heavy coaches, to which he 
was accustomed in 1803. The same journey can now be per- 
formed within an hour by steam. Mr. Campbell used to mention 
it as a remarkable fact, that Mr. J. Haldane had told him, that 
the invention of coppering ships had brought India several months 
nearer to England. The discovery of steam has brought India 
within little more than a month from our shores. But great as is 
the power of steam, it is already, in one respect, eclipsed by the 
lightning speed of electricity. Mr. Campbell thus concludes his 
journal of this little tour : — " During this tour we travelled about 
four hundred miles, had fine weather the whole way, excepting 
two days, preached in many dark corners, conversed with many 
disciples, I hope to their comfort and stirring up, and not one 
accident happened. Praise the Lord, my soul." 



MR J. HALDANE'S POPULARITY. 

Mr. Campbell did not long remain in Edinburgh, although this 
was not his last tour with Mr. James Haldane. He was within a 
few weeks afterwards invited to occupy a chapel at Kingsland, 
near London, where he remained till his death, in 1840. He 
stipulated that his settlement in Kingsland should not interfere 
with his itinerating labors, and two years later he made another 
tour with his old friend, whose popularity, as a preacher, con- 
tinued unabated. The marvel had, indeed, in a great measure 
passed away ; yet his unwearied labors, his solid attainments, and 
added experience, gave him a weight of character, which was 
daily increasing. It is in speaking of him at this period, that one 
who, to say the least, is by no means too partial, makes the fol- 
lowing remarks :* — 

"At this time Mr. Haldane was a highly-gifted and deservedly 'popular 
preacher, in the best sense of popularity. Mr. Campbell often says of his ser- 
mons, ' they were solemn and striking, and the people all attention.' It will 
both illustrate and verify this, to say, that the late Mr. Cowie, of Huntley, him- 
self the Whitfield of the north, in the estimation of Rowland Hill, says, in 
manuscripts in my possession, that he was often both humbled and inspired 
by Mr. Haldane's ' unction from the Holy One.' This fact, I recollect well, al- 
though I was too young to understand the sermons it refers to. Besides, he 
could not have been popular in Mr. Cowie's circle, had he not been a powerful 
preacher." 

The Eev. Andrew Fuller made a second visit to Scotland in 
1802, and his letters contain an account of his progress, during 
which he was accompanied by the now venerable and distin- 
guished Dr. Wardlaw, then described as " a young man, of prom- 
ising character," brought up for the Burgher Secession, which he 
had " left for the Tabernacle connection." In the same letter we 
find the following extract, given by Mr. Fuller's biographer, under 
the date of Stirling, September, 1802 : — 

"On Friday, the 17th, I rose early, and went to see the town and castle be- 
fore breakfast. This (Stirling) is a most romantic situation, the finest spot I 
have seen in Scotland. Here the Scottish kings used occasionally to reside. 
I suppose it was their sumrj er-house. Near this is the late seat of Robert 
Haldane, Esq., a seat, which a Scottish nobleman has pronounced to be *a 
perfect heaven upon earth ;' but which he sold, and has ever since lived in a 
recluse style of life, laying out thousands every year for the propagation of the 
Gospel, in Scotland and Ireland. ' Oh ! (say the gentry), he must have some 
deep scheme in his head.' Some of the clergy cannot endure him ; but he has 
great interest with the common people. He is a great economist, in order to 

* Philip's Life and Times of John Campbell, p. 856. 



298 ANECDOTE OF A HIGHLANDER. 

be generous. He has saved 30,000Z., I am told, by the advance of the funds 
since he bought in." 

The statement with reference to Mr. Haldane's gains in the 
f unds was an idle piece of gossip, which a wise man might possibly 
have written in the confidence of friendship, but which a judi- 
cious biographer should hardly have published without inquiry, 
especially in the lifetime of a gentleman, the privacy of whose 
personal affairs was thus unceremoniously invaded. There was 
not even a foundation for the report, and in point of fact, al- 
though Mr. Fuller was not aware of it, the rumor was one of the 
many forms of calumny, by which an envious spirit of detraction 
vainly tried to impeach motives which it could not fathom, and 
disparage a liberality which it could not reach. Mr. Campbell 
tells of a Highland Laird, who exhorted the people not to hear 
the missionaries, adding, " Haldane is making ten per cent, of his 
Tabernacles. " The answer of the poor Highlander was admirable. 
He did not contradict his chief, but said, " Weel, Sir, if he were, 
he is doing gude to the people." Probably neither the Laird nor 
his clansman were aware, that the surplus arising from the Taber- 
nacles never returned to the proprietor, but was all appropriated 
to the preaching of the Gospel. 

The first outcry against Mr. Haldane was raised on the ground 
of politics. But no sooner was this silenced, than another equally 
futile, but infinitely more absurd, was pressed into the service of 
the opponents of Home Missions. Here was a gentleman of ac 
knowledged talents, the very reverse of an enthusiast, and in all 
worldly matters distinguished for his calm judgment, and shrewd, 
calculating turn of mind, who had sold a fine estate, and was 
educating missionaries at a vast expense, besides building or pur- 
chasing large places of worship in most of the principal towns of 
Scotland. Everywhere, from Thurso and Wick in the north, to 
Dumfries in the south, these chapels were crowded, and as there 
were collections made at the door, partly for the poor and partly 
for the spread of the Gospel, and as rents were paid for some of 
the pews, the rumor went abroad, that in these schemes the origi- 
nator was, after all, by no means neglecting his worldly interests. 
Seven years later, the gossip of 1802, for a brief period, obtained 
renewed currency, in consequence of expressions hastily used by 
Mr. Ewing, writing unadvisedly with his pen. In the heat of con- 
troversy that gentleman so far forgot himself, as to speak in the 
tone of one, who really believed that Mr. Haldane was " adding 



ME. haldane's economy. 299 

thousand to thousand in the funds." Nay, he then actually went 
so far as to publish, that a deacon of his own Church, who was 
afterwards separated from it, but who at one time attracted some 
notice, by his speculations and what he termed the " Harleian 
Diary," had made "much greater exertions, proportionally, than 
ever had been made" by the projector of the Indian Missions, the 
founder of the Tabernacles, the supporter of the Seminaries, and 
the main prop of the Home missionaries. The actors in these 
busy scenes are now all removed from the haunts of living men, 
and the clamor of prejudice or of passion is silenced in death. 
Such statements as those referred to are now known to be ridicu- 
lous, and the bitterest opponent of Mr. Haldane's measures would 
no longer venture to impeach the sincerity of his loyalty, the ex- 
tent of his sacrifices, or the purity of his motives. Such state- 
ments would, in fact, be unworthy of notice, were it not that 
future ecclesiastical historians might be disposed to mistake si- 
lence for admission. At the time of Mr. Fullers journey to 
Scotland, in 1802, the portion of Airthrey which he retained un- 
sold, exclusive of his lands in Forfarshire, exceeded in value the 
whole of his stock in the public funds. Mr. Haldane's liberality 
was, however, always under the control of a wise economy, and 
but for this and his calculating foresight, it would have been im- 
possible to effect what he did with the same means. But it is no 
matter of surprise that this very prudence sometimes proved dis- 
tasteful to those, who were not themselves accustomed to the 
management of property. Mr. L. Macintosh, who has been al- 
ready mentioned, was on one occasion alluding to the fact, that 
Mr. Haldane's generosity was often regarded rather as a proof of 
his wealth than of his liberality, and he added, that there were 
those to whom Mr. Haldane had shown great kindness, who, in- 
stead of feeling gratitude, seemed to look upon his fortune " as a 
wreck cast upon the shore, to which all ought to be allowed to 
help themselves." The same excellent minister was, on another 
occasion, much grieved to hear one, whom Mr. Haldane had 
raised from the station of a mechanic, censuring his patron's 
economy. " You seem," said the new-made preacher, in a flip- 
pant tone, " to wince when anything is said against Mr. Haldane." 
" Yes," replied Mr. Macintosh, " I always feel ashamed to hear 
him found fault with by those whom he made gentlemen, and 
who, but for his purse, would still have been cobbling shoes." 
In the year 1802 the studies of Mr. Ewing's second class ended, 



300 MT. haldane's theological seminaries. 

when the Glasgow seminary was closed, and another was imme- 
diately opened in Edinburgh on a larger scale, more under the 
control of Mr. Haldane and his brother. In theology the students 
had the advantage of the personal instructions of Mr. Aikman, 
aided by the practical good sense and Christian experience of Mr. 
John Campbell. To them was added, as Classical Tutor, Mr. 
Thomas Wemyss, "a gentleman," says Dr. Lindsay Alexander, 
M who has secured to himself a very respectable place amongst 
biblical scholars by his work on the ' Symbolical Language of 
Scripture,' and his translation of the Book of Job." Towards the 
end of their course Mr. Campbell retired, but his place was sup- 
plied by Mr. William Stephens, whose very striking history is 
detailed in the " Missionary Magazine." He was a man of good 
parts and. fine elocution, who had been at one time on the stage, 
but was brought to the knowledge of the truth, and became a 
powerful and useful preacher. He was at first a minister at Aber- 
deen, and then came to assist in the Tabernacle at Edinburgh, 
where he remained until he adopted Baptist sentiments. He then 
proceeded to England, and settled at Rochdale, where he preached 
for many years until his death. In 1803, the Rev. Mr. Cowie, of 
Montrose, originally a licentiate of the Church of Scotland, took 
Mr. Aikman's place, and also assisted at the Tabernacle. He was 
a man of deep piety and very amiable and agreeable manners, pos- 
sessed of considerable talent, although his usefulness was some- 
what impaired by unequal spirits and a tendency to depression. 
The following is the account given of these Seminaries by one 
who was indebted to them for his education, and became not only 
an occasional preacher but the able instructor of the Edinburgh 
Deaf and Dumb Institution. It is extracted from the lamented 
Mr. Robert Kinniburgh's " Historical Survey of Congregational- 
ism in Scotland," which contains the only accurate narrative that 
has yet appeared of the early proceedings of the originators of 
the Circus and Tabernacle system :— 

" I. The first class began in January, 1799, under the tuition of Mr. Ewing. 
In December, 1800, this class completed their term of study, and were sent to 
different stations as preachers. In it were John Munro, George Robertson, &c. 

"II. The second class commenced in January, 1800, at Dundee, under Mr. 
Innes. In this class were a few who had been catechists, and who were found 
to possess talents capable of being trained for the ministry. In the early part 
of 1801, all of this class were removed to Glasgow, and were under Mr. Ewing 
for fifteen months. In it were Dr. Paterson, Alexander Thomson, &c. 

" III. In 1801, the third class began at Dundee, under Mr. Irines, but its stu- 



MR. HALDAXE'S THEOLOGICAL SEMINARIES. 301 

dents met with a very serious interruption, being sent for a time to supply sta- 
tions with preaching at the end of the first year. They, however, came to 
Edinburgh in 1804, and finished their term of study. In this class were Francis 
Dick, Alexander Kerr, &c. 

" IV. The fourth class began in Edinburgh, in 1802, under Messrs. Aikman 
and Wemyss, with the addition of Mr. Stephens, towards the close of the sec- 
ond year. In it were William Newry, Peter M'Laren, &c. 

"V. In 1803, a. fifth class was organized under Messrs. Aikman, Wemyss, 
and Stephens, Mr. Cowie taking Mr. Aikman's place during the second year. 
In it were Dr. Russell (Dundee), John Watson (Musselburgh), &c. 

"VI. The sixth class began in 1804, under Messrs. Wemyss, Stephens, and 
Cowie, for the first year, but were under Mr. Cowie alone during the second 
year. In this class were Alexander Knowles, John Black, &c. 

"VII. The seventh class assembled in 1805. In it were William Orme, John 
Neave, &c. This and the next class were under Messrs. Cowie and Walker. 

"VIII. The eighth class met in September, 1806. In it were Thomas Smith 
(Rotherham), Robert Aikenhead, &c. Mr. Cowie resigned the tutorship in the 
spring of 1808. 

"IX. A ninth class was formed in the end of 1807, and was under the care 
of Mr. William Walker till December, 1808, when the Seminary was given up, 
after having sent out nearly 300 preachers. 

"The course of study of these classes generally extended over two years, 
with a vacation of six weeks in each year, and embraced English grammar and 
rhetoric, the elements of Greek and Hebrew, — the last three classes had Latin 
in addition, — lectures on systematic theology, and essays upon prescribed sub- 
jects. Each student in rotation delivered sermons before the class, the tutor 
making his remarks. One day in each week all were required to speak in rota- 
tion from a passage of Scripture appointed for that purpose, the tutor making 
concluding observations. The students were supported, had medical attendance 
when needed, their education and class-books were given them, and they had 
access to a large and well-selected library, — all at the expense of Mr. Robert 
Haldane. Although, in consequence of the urgent demand for laborers, the 
young men were sent out with more meagre attainments than would have been 
proper in other circumstances, yet among them there were very many who 
would have done honor to any of the religious bodies of the day. Dr. Struth- 
ers, speaking of these seminaries, says, 'Among the 300 sent forth from these 
classes, before they were altogether given up, there were some choice spirits 
who, having got a start in learning, pushed on their private studies with vigor, 
and obtained success.' This is quite correct. There were ' choice spirits' 1 among 
them, some of whom subsequently made attainments in actual scholarship equal 
to and beyond the attainments of many who boast of their University educa- 
tion ; while others of them, although they did not aspire to be erudite scholars, 
yet, by diligent application, rose to eminence as preachers and writers. Speak- 
ing generally, those sent out from the seminaries were men befitting the times 
in which they lived. They were raised up in mercy to a perishing world ; and 
if they did not succeed in drawing multitudes to their chapels, it must be 
ascribed, in a great measure, to the unbending principles which they ever main- 
tained. Thus a succession of efficient preachers was secured, on a plan adapted 



302 SOCIETY FOR PROPAGATING THE GOSPEL AT HOME. 

to the necessities of the times, and which provided for the supply of their wants, 
without presenting any temptation to those to embark in the cause whose ava- 
rice was greater than their zeal for doing good." * 

Iii addition to the nine classes enumerated above, as conducted 
at Mr. Haldane's expense during ten years, there was another 
taught by the Eev. Mr. Hamilton, at Armagh, and at least two 
others in Scotland, of which Mr. Kinniburgh does not seem to 
have been aware. The one was at Elgin, under Mr. Ballantyne, 
and the other was at Granton, under Mr. L. Macintosh, in 1820 
and several subsequent years. There was another on a smaller 
scale, instituted at Paris, under the care of the amiable and excel- 
lent ministers, MM. Francois, and Henri Olivier, of Lausanne, 
during the time when, in 1821, they were for three years banished 
from the Canton de Yaud. Both Mr. Haldane and his brother 
also contributed to the maintenance of theological students, at a 
later period, taught by Dr. Carson, in Ireland. The arrangements 
connected with the erection or management of the Tabernacles 
and Missionary Seminaries, in themselves involved a large amount 
of labor and responsibility. But Mr. Haldane had also on his 
hands the chief direction of the "Society for Propagating the 
Gospel at Home," besides the labor of corresponding with many 
parts of Scotland, England, and Ireland. 

Even at this early period, he was not indifferent to the claims 
of the continent of Europe. At one time he endeavored to pre- 
vail on a pious and judicious merchant at Leith, William Alex- 
ander, Esq. (the father of the Rev. Dr. Lindsay Alexander, the 
eloquent and distinguished ornament of the Congregational Union 
in Scotland), to proceed to Leghorn, which was a free port, with 
the view of trying what could be done in the way of introducing 
Bibles or tracts into Tuscany and other parts of Italy. A few 
years later, he also proposed to an able Irish clergyman, for whom 
he entertained a high regard, to settle at Hamburg, with a view 
to establish a missionary station for promoting the Gospel in Ger- 
many. Both of these designs failed. But it was doubtless well 
that they were in his heart ; and when in after-years we find him 
at Geneva and at Montauban, instructing the students of these 
Protestant Colleges in the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus, 

* Dr. Struthers, in his " History of the Relief Church," observes : £t He (Mr. R. 
Haldane) set up academies in Glasgow. Dundee, and Edinburgh, under Messrs. Ew- 
ing, Lines, and Haldane." This is a mistake ; excepting so far as Mr. James Haldane 
assisted his brother in watching over and superintending the progress and education 
of the students. 



MISSIONARY WORK. 303 

it will not be forgotten that at the outset of his career, and during 
the space of ten years, he had been accustomed to draw around 
him those young men whom he educated in Scotland, for the pur- 
pose of enlarging their views as to the glory of the person of 
Christ, and the great doctrines of the ever-blessed Gospel. From 
these details, it will be seen that his ardent and energetic mind 
was as much engaged in the missionary work as if he had accom- 
plished his original plan, and as an evangelist had expatriated 
himself amongst the heathen at Patna or Benares. 



CHAPTER XV. 

[1804, 1805.] 

Eaely in the spring of 1804, Mr. James Haldane preached a 
remarkable sermon on the death of Thomas Pitt, second Baron 
Camelford, who was mortally wounded in a duel by Captain Best, 
and died in great agony four days afterwards. This fatal catas- 
trophe had produced an extraordinary public sensation, more 
especially following as it did on another duel, in which Colonel 
Montgomery, not many months before, fell by the hand of Captain 
Macnamara, in a wretched quarrel about their dogs. These events 
were calculated to arouse attention to the miserable fruits of the 
world's code of honor, in submission to which a young nobleman, 
at the age of twenty-nine, nephew to the great Earl of Chatham, 
and cousin to the Prime Minister, had forfeited his own life, ex- 
tinguished a peerage, and sacrificed a great fortune, which chiefly 
fell to his sister, the wife of the celebrated Lord Grenville. Lord 
Camelford was not one of the common run of fashionable men, 
living upon town. He had fine natural talents. His illustrious 
uncle had bestowed much pains on his education, and addressed 
to him a series of letters with a view to his improvement, which 
have been since published. He had been passionately fond of 
science, and in many subjects connected with literature was no 
mean proficient. But in those unhappy days, when duelling was 
reckoned a mark of spirit, he had acquired in the navy and in the 
world of fashion the reputation of a first-rate shot. He had pro- 
voked and been concerned in many duels, and on one occasion, 
where the death of a superior officer in the West Indies had left 
some doubt as to the seniority of the next in succession, he brought 
the matter to an issue by giving certain orders to his rival, a Lieu- 
tenant Peterson, on disobedience of which he shot him dead on 
the sea-beach, although at the head of an armed boat's crew, ready 



SERMON" ON LORD CAMELFORD'S DUEL. 305 

to uphold their commander. For this rash act he was tried by a 
court-martial, but being found in the right as to his seniority, and 
consequent title to give the order, he was honorably acquitted. 

The notoriety thus acquired was not diminished by the fact, 
that he had returned Mr. Home Tooke to Parliament for his 
pocket borough, and threatened to substitute his own black ser- 
vant in case of his nominee being declared by the House of Com- 
mons disqualified as a clergyman. Lord Camelford and Mr. Best 
were both in the navy, and intimate friends ; but they had at the 
time a bet of 200?. depending, as to which was the better shot. 
The meeting took place through the instigation of an abandoned 
woman, then under the protection of Lord Camelford, who falsely 
accused her former protector, Mr. Best, of having spoken disre- 
spectfully of his Lordship. This greatly incensed the irascible 
peer, who went up to Mr. Best at the Prince of Wales Hotel, in 
Conduit-street, where they usually dined, and after some alterca- 
tion, pronounced him " a scoundrel, a liar, and a ruffian." Mr. 
Best observed that these were expressions which admitted but of 
one answer, and a meeting was arranged for the next morning. 
But in the course of the evening he conveyed to Lord Camelford 
the assurance, that the information on which his Lordship spoke 
was unfounded, and that a retractation of the words used under a 
wrong impression would be perfectly satisfactory. They again 
met in the morning at a coffee-house in Oxford-street, and once 
more Mr. Best pleaded for reconciliation, adding, " Do not persist 
in expressions under which one of us must fall." At this very 
moment Lord Camelford knew that he had been imposed on, and 
had written a declaration on his will that he was the " aggressor 
in the spirit as well as letter of the word." But false pride would 
not allow the haughty peer to listen to a remonstrance, which 
might impeach his courage, and he replied: u Best, this is child's 
play ; the affair must go on." On proceeding to the ground be- 
hind Holland House, he reiterated to his second, the Hon. W. 
Devereux, the statement he had appended to his will, but said 
that he was fearful that his reputation would suffer, if he made 
any concession to one whom he rather thought was the best shot 
in England. They were placed at fifteen paces from each other, 
fired together, and Lord Camelford fell, to all appearance dead. 
In an instant he recovered the shock, so far as to exclaim, "lam 
killed, but I acquit Best ; I alone am to blame." Captain Best 
and his second instantly rode off; and Lord Camelford 's friend, 

20 



306 SERilOM" ON LOED CAMELFOBD'S DUEL. 

on pretence of going for a surgeon, did the same as soon as a 
countryman came up, who found his Lordship lying on his back, 
in the lower part of a field overflowed with water. His Lordship 
was unwilling to be moved, but was at last placed in a chair and 
conveyed to Little Holland House, where he lingered in great 
pain till the following Saturday, and then died. The ball had 
penetrated his right breast passing through the lungs, and lodging 
in the backbone. He sent for his solicitor, and made a codicil 
to his will, in which he stated, that although most people desire 
that their remains might be conveyed to their native land to be 
interred, "I wish my body to be removed, as soon as maybe 
convenient, to a country far distant, to a spot not near the haunts 
of men, but where the surrounding scenery may smile upon my 
remains." The place he chose was on the borders of the Lake of 
St. Lemprierre, in the Canton of Berne, where three trees stood 
on a particular spot. The centre tree he desired to be taken up, 
and his body being there deposited, to be replanted. He added, 
"Let no monument or stone be placed on my grave." At the 
foot of this tree, his Lordship said he had passed many hours, 
meditating on the mutability of human affairs. He left 1000?. as 
compensation to the proprietors. 

In the spirit evinced by Lord Camelford may be traced some- 
thing resembling that unhappy, morbid tone of mind that charac- 
terized Lord Byron. But it was not merely the circumstances of 
this remarkable duel, nor yet the conduct of this unhappy noble- 
man, that determined Mr. James Haldane to call attention to it 
from the pulpit. What seemed far more to demand special notice 
and animadversion, was the style in which the event was pub- 
lished, and the character of the deceased drawn by his Lordship's 
intimate friend, a reverend gentlemen, then a Fellow of St. John's 
College, Cambridge. That clergyman painted Lord Camelford 
as " a curious mixture of much that was virtuous and much that 
was vicious, all in extremes." He described him as irascible in 
temper, "which brought him into many broils," but "warm in 
his affections, and almost unexampled in his benevolence." He 
did not " distribute less than 4000/. a year in the purchase of com- 
missions for gallant young men, and in the relief of decayed sea- 
men and soldiers." He was " a stern adversary, but the mildest 
and most generous of friends," often the dupe of the designing 
and crafty supplicant, but oftener "the soother of real sorrow and 
unmerited woe." He had read skeptical boohs for the purpose of 



SERMON ON LORD CAMELFORD'S DUEL. 307 

puzzling the chaplains on board the ships in which he served," 
and thus his mind had become tainted with infidelity ; but yet he 
" was not without a proper sense of religion, at the awful moment 
when the levities of imagination give way to the solemn convic- 
tions of the mind." There was thus a balance struck between 
vice and virtue, infidelity and faith, which was followed up by an 
assurance, that "in the worst moments of his pain, he cried out 
that he sincerely hoped the agonies he then endured might expiate 
the sins he had committed." Mr. Cockburn also informed the 
public that he had enjoyed many conversations with his Lordship, 
who little more than a week before his death had said, " No sen- 
sible and well-informed man can presume to say that Christianity 
is false. I do not yet venture to assert that it is true, but I con- 
fess the probabilities are in its favor." It was thus that Mr. 
Cockburn, whilst unable to palliate the vices of Lord Camelford, 
down to the moment when he plunged into eternity, still endeav- 
ored to paint what he termed "his counter-balancing virtues," 
and seemed to give countenance to the hope of the dying peer, 
that the agonies of his death-bed might be an expiation for his sins. 

No one who knew Mr. James Haldane can wonder that his 
spirit was stirred within him, when he saw such statements circu- 
lated and read with avidity, whilst the public mind was fixed with 
intense interest on the romantic character of Lord Camelford, as 
drawn by his reverend apologist. He thought that the opportu- 
nity was one for being useful to those who at other times might 
not be disposed to listen to the Gospel. He knew the censure to 
which it might expose him, but he publicly announced that, with- 
out the possibility of injuring the dead, and in the hope of doing 
good to the living, it was his intention to preach, on the next 
Lord's-day, on the death of Lord Camelford. Of the multitude 
that thronged to hear that sermon there are now comparatively 
few survivors. Some have lately departed, and amongst these 
the venerable Christopher Anderson. In reference to this sermon, 
he wrote, not long before his own death : " It was understood 
that Mr. James Haldane meant to examine and expose this mel- 
ancholy affair. Familiar as he had been for years with sea life, 
and once himself under tyranny of these miserable ' laws of honor,' 
there was no man better qualified. The fear of God was now his 
governing principle, yet it required no common fortitude to meet 
such a case before such an audience." 

The spacious building in which he preached, then capable of 



308 SEEMON" ON LORD CAMELFOED'S DUEL. 

seating more than 3,000 persons, was crowded to the doors. It 
was at the time of the threatened invasion, when the whole nation 
resounded with the clang of arms, and the most peaceful civilians 
were often arrayed in military costume. When he entered the 
pulpit, there rose before him, not only the usual congregation, 
but officers in full uniform from Piershill barracks and the Castle, 
— cavalry, infantry, artillery, and volunteers, officers on Lord 
Moira's staff, magistrates, men of letters and philosophers, men 
of business and retired gentlemen, all assembled to hear what was 
to be said in reprobation of duelling, and of the account circula- 
ting in print, from the pen of the Kev. Fellow of St. John's, Cam- 
bridge, who attended the death-bed of Lord Camelford. 

It was a great occasion, and Mr. James Haldane's MS. notes 
give a rough outline of the manner in which he treated the sub- 
ject. He took for his text no passage of Scripture, but holding 
in his hand the " Edinburgh Advertiser," which was found 
amongst his papers at his death, he began by stating, that in de- 
viating from the usual practice of discoursing on a portion of 
Scripture, it was not his intention to lead his hearers away from 
the Word of God, but rather to call their attention to a subject 
which strikingly illustrated its truth. " Thus/' he said, " we find 
the Lord taking for the subject of his discourse the fall of the 
tower of Siloam, and the apostles speaking to the people from the 
events that occurred. Lord Camelford," he continued, " was 
mortally wounded in a duel, and after languishing some days, 
expired. He was attended by a clergyman, who gives the follow- 
ing account." He then read the whole of the extract, with mark- 
ed emphasis, adding, "Let us, by the help of Grod, attend to some 
considerations which this melancholy statement naturally suggests." 
The following MS. notes can furnish but a faint idea of the topics 
handled, and none at all of his impressive manner : — 

" 1. The manner of his death. 

" What a striking proof is there in the practice of duelling that duellists have 
not the fear of God ! Can anything more plainly show that they prefer the 
praise of men to the praise of God, and that in the most deliberate manner? 
It does not arise from a sudden gust of passion, but the great bulk of men in a 
certain rank of life live in the habitual determination in this way to set God at 
defiance. They even plead that it is necessary, or they would forfeit their 
honor. Now, every man holding such sentiments is habitually guilty of de- 
liberate rebellion against God, and, according to the Lord's exposition of the 
law, is a murderer. Matt. v. 28. It has been observed, that perhaps there is 
no other sin which men habitually resolve to practise, whenever a temptation 



SERMON ON LORD CAMELFORD'S DUEL. 309 

shall occur. In consequence of the great increase of the army, this is likely to 
become more frequent. Every one in the rank of an officer, or even of a private 
in some corps, considers himself as a man of honor, that is, a man who is bound 
by his character to trample on the laws of God ; to set Him at defiance, and to 
risk rushing into His presence a murderer or a suicide. Psalm x. 13." 

The second topic discussed was " Lord Camelford's character," 
as drawn by his clerical friend, and the notes proceed : — 

" His character. Great vices counterbalanced by great virtues, especially 
benevolence. Here notice the false views of benevolence. There is a kind of 
instinct which leads us to pity distress. Without this, society would be a Pan- 
demonium, and could not exist. But this is very different from true benevo- 
lence ; for men pity others when in great distress, who would have been grieved 
to see them in great prosperity. True benevolence is a universal principle, and 
necessarily connected with love to God, the greatest and best of beings. False 
benevolence is confined to ourselves, and perhaps a few connected with us. 
True benevolence is a steady principle, discovering itself in various ways, ac- 
cording as there is opportunity to do good to others. False benevolence is 
partial, leading us, according to our caprice, to do some acts of seeming kind- 
ness, while we can at pleasure deliberately gratify our passions at the expense 
of the happiness of others and the good of society. Here we see a man con- 
fessedly guilty of very great improprieties, who lived in habitual contempt of 
God, yet munificent in his charities, &c. 

" 3. The awful levity and contempt with which he treated revelation. The 
Almighty God, in compassion to man, condescends to send a revelation of 
mercy, and a creature to whom it is addressed shall actually read books to find 
arguments for the sake of proving it to be false. Thus the madman scatters 
arrows, firebrands, and death, and says, Am not I in sport? Here is the mind 
capable of the most lively efforts of active benevolence, who would pour contempt 
on the Son of God, who would jest with his sufferings and death, and rob mankind, 
as far as his puny arm was able, of what sweetens life, and supports in death. 

"4. But it seems, 'he was not, however, without a proper sense of religion 
at the awful moment,' &c. There is a moment when reckless unbelief gives 
way to the solemn convictions of the mind. These, although stifled, are not 
effaced. All men hold the truth in unrighteousness ; their own hearts condemn 
them, knowing the just judgment of God, that they who do such things are 
worthy of death. By indulging in sin they drown, but do not satisfy, their con- 
science, which will, sooner or later, testify against them and stop every mouth. 

" 5. Here, in Lord Camelford's own words, we see the natural conviction in 
the. mind of man that sin deserves punishment. He knew he needed some ex- 
piation. In wealth, and in the midst of his pleasures, he might have smiled at 
the idea that God would be so strict as to call him to account, or he might con- 
sider the money he lavished as a sufficient atonement for any improprieties of 
conduct ; for such is the deceitfulness of the human heart, that men, amidst the 
commission of the grossest sins, seek to establish their own righteousness. It 
is said, he gave away thousands yearly, yet conscience demanded another ex- 
piation, and he found that, even in his own judgment, all these acts of benevo- 
lence were insufficient to entitle him to the favor of God. 



310 SERMON ON LORD CAMELFORD'S DUEL. 

" 6. Notice the blindness of the human heart here discovered, — he hoped that 
the pain produced by his own conduct, by perishing in a duel, although con- 
vinced he was completely wrong, that the immediate consequence of this crime 
would ' expiate' his guilt. Alas ! how do they mistake who imagine that a few 
hours of pain will satisfy the infinite demands of Divine justice. 

" 7. This, however, could not give relief. It was but like a drowning man 
snatching at a straw. He was driven to appeal to the mercy of God, and to de- 
sire it might be sought for him by prayer. Here we see how in distress the 
stoutest heart fails, and the convinced sinner, feeling his need of God, would 
appeal to his mercy. But, ah ! he had neglected the great salvation, — over- 
looked the only way of obtaining mercy ; and, in this dreadful situation, with 
an awakened conscience, it appears he had none to inform him how God is just, 
yet justifies the ungodly. Without the knowledge of Christ, all is uncertainty, 
— groping in the dark. Without the knowledge of Christ, mercy can only be 
expected by overlooking the justice and truth of God. Men may vainly imagine 
that repeating prayers, or expressing sorrow for the past, will recommend them 
to the mercy of God ; but a deceived heart turns them aside, nor have they un- 
derstanding to say, ' Is there not a lie in my right hand V 

" 8. How many methods do men employ to ruin themselves, sheltering them- 
selves under the opinion of others ! Mr. Cockburn says : ' I have heard it as- 
serted, by those who would fain shelter their own follies under the authority 
of others, that Lord Camelford, after the most serious reflection and inquiry, 
doubted a life hereafter. I wish, with all my soul, that the unthinking votaries 
of dissipation and infidelity could all have been present at the death-bed of this 
poor man ; could have heard his expressions of contrition for past misconduct, 
and of reliance on the mercy of his Creator ; could have heard his dying exhor- 
tations to one of his intimate friends, to live in future a life of peace and virtue. 
I think it would have made impressions on their minds, as it did on mine, not 
easily to be effaced.' It is evident he doubted, when in health, and could then 
ridicule religion : but now, all this was over. The skeptic and the scoffer stood 
appalled in the presence of the King of terrors. Infidelity may harden the mind 
in prosperity, but is a miserable comforter in the hour of trial. It vanishes 
when its aid is most needed. Now he acknowledges a God, laments his own 
misconduct, and places his reliance on mercy. But what is the foundation of 
that confidence ? Is it the death of Christ ? Alas ! his name is not once men- 
tioned. Was it founded on the pain he endured or the prayers he offered ? 
How awful if the conscience be thus lulled. It is like sleep produced by opium, 
which nowise diminishes the force of disease, and is only the forerunner of 
fresh pain and anguish. 

" 9. Notice the excellence of that conduct which flows from religion, living 
soberly, righteously, and godly. It receives testimonies from friends and ene- 
mies. To it the dying servant of Jesus, finishing his career with joy, looks 
back with delight. (2 Tim. iv. 6.) To it the degraded courtier testifies, ' Had 
I but served my God as I have served my King, He would not have left me in 
my old age.' To it this man, who had no longer opportunity of indulging in 
sin, and, consequently, being able to judge impartially, condemns his own con- 
duct and recommends a life of peace and virtue. 

" Improvement. First, the cause of taking this subject. It is objected, that 



VISIT TO BUXTON. 311 

it is improper to notice the dead. Scripture does so. I have done so for the 
sake of the living. I have taken the account given of him by his friend. No 
wish to hurt his character, nor can what I or others say affect his eternal state. 

" 1. The madness of treating Christianity with contempt, without giving it a 
serious hearing. 

"2. Folly of putting off thoughts of death to sick-bed, when racked with 
pain or stupefied with medicine. 

" 3. The amazing goodness of God in the gift of his Son, and the satisfac- 
tion which the knowledge of this imparts to the mind. No conjecture, but the 
word and oath of God." 

In the following words the Eev. C. Anderson thus concludes his 
own personal recollections of the soul-stirring sermon preached 
on this striking occasion : — " In his address Mr. Haldane took up 
the statement given in the public prints, paragraph by paragraph, 
exposing and reprobating it, as he went on, in a manner which 
such a man alone could do. The immense audience was still 
throughout, in awe before his earnest manner and thrilling lan- 
guage ; and some then present, and yet alive, well remember that 
solemn scene even to this hour." 

In the summer of the same year Mr. James Haldane again 
visited Buxton, with his wife and eldest daughter. He availed 
himself of every opportunity of preaching, as on the former oc- 
casion, as well as of speaking on the concerns of eternity to those 
whom he met at the hotel. But he also left Mrs. James Haldane 
at Buxton for a few weeks, whilst he made an excursion to Dub- 
lin, where he frequently preached at the Bethesda Episcopal 
Chapel, of which the excellent Mr. Mathias and the learned Mr. 
Walker, of Trinity College, Dublin, were then ministers, occasion- 
ally assisted by the Eev. Thomas Kelly, the well-known Christian 
Poet, the Kev. George Carr, and by the Eev. Dr. Thorpe, whose 
eminent talents as a popular preacher soon afterwards pointed 
him as the fittest associate of Mr. Mathias, when Mr. Walker re- 
signed his fellowship and left the Established Church. At that 
time religion was at a low ebb in the Church of Ireland, and 
evangelical men were made the objects of ridicule and reproach. 
The Bethesda Chapel was like a beacon-light in the midst of 
darkness, and although some of the good men who fed that holy 
flame felt compelled to dissent, yet others remained and lived to 
see the wilderness and the solitary place rejoice and blossom as 
the rose. But, at the time when Mr. James Haldane preached in 
the Bethesda, at Dublin, there was a little band who had a sepa- 
rate meeting, such as Mr. Simeon had at Cambridge, to which 



312 DEATH OF LORD DUNCAN. 

none but those who appeared consistent believers were admitted, 
and where they prayed together and exhorted one another, re- 
ceiving the Lord's Supper at an hour when it was not publicly 
administered. These facts are worth noticing, as throwing light 
on the steps by which the Haldanes were afterwards gradually 
led to adopt plans of mutual exhortation in their own connection. 

From Buxton Mr. James Haldane proceeded, with his wife and 
daughter, to London, preaching at Manchester, Sheffield, and 
many other places at which they stopped on their route. During 
their stay in London they paid several visits to friends in the 
neighborhood, but a great part of their time was spent at Hat- 
cham House, the residence of the late Mr. and Mrs. Hardcastle. 
At this period Mr. J. Haldane was much followed, and preached 
to great crowds in the Tottenham Court Chapel, Mr. Whitfield's 
Tabernacle, in the City-road, and in Camden Chapel, Camberwell, 
afterwards the scene of the Eev. Henry Melvill's great popularity. 

Mr. James Haldane had hoped to have reached London in 
time to have offered himself to accompany Lord Duncan on his 
journey to Scotland. An alarming paragraph in the newspaper, 
relative to the Admiral's health, had, however, been contradicted, 
and prevented his fulfilling his first intention of hastening to 
town. But scarcely had he arrived in London than he heard of 
his uncle's death, at the inn at Cornhill on the Tweed, which he 
reached on the 4th of August, 1804, attended only by a servant. 
He went to bed in his usual health, but soon afterwards rang his 
bell, and expired. In his will he showed his unabated confidence 
in his nephews, by including Mr. Haldane as one of the trustees 
and guardians of his children, with Lord Melville and the Lord 
Chief Baron Dundas. 

In the spring of 1805 Mr. J. A. Haldane made another ex- 
tended tour, accompanied by Mr. John Campbell, who returned 
from Kingsland for that purpose. They proceeded by Perth and 
Dunkeld into Breadalbane, where they separated. The people 
on this occasion came out by thousands to listen to Mr. J. Hal • 
dane. At Killin, in 1803, they could not hear of one earnest 
Christian. Now there were a goodly number of true disciples. 
Mr. Peter Grant, a pious preacher, who is also styled, amongst 
his countrymen, the Gaelic poet, gives the following account of 
Mr. J. H.'s progress from Breadalbane through Strathspey : — 

"The novelty of a field-preacher, especially a gentleman, attracted multi- 
tudes. In a short time the whole country was in a stir. Many said, that we 



MB. grant's account. 313 

were all in a lost condition ; others endeavored, by arguments and ridicule, to 
banish ail their fears ; but the Gospel kindled a flame at that time which I hope 
is not yet extinguished. May the Lord continue it for ages to come ! 

" I was young and had little concern about my own soul when Mr. Haldane 
visited this place. All that I remember is, having seen himself and John 
Campbell preach at Granton, on a market-day. They took their station a little 
out of the village, where a church has been since built. Almost the whole 
market gathered to hear. At first they thought to drown his voice by laughing 
and sporting, but, in a short time, his powerful and commanding voice over- 
came all their uproar, and a solemnity prevailed till the end of his discourse ; 
some have since acknowledged to me, that they received their first impression 
there on that occasion. 

" But my wife, though as young as myself, was better acquainted with Mr. 
Haldane. The children not being accustomed to strangers, especially a gentle- 
man, would hide themselves in holes, but my wife somehow saw something in 
his smiles that encouraged her to come near him ; and often did she show me 
how, with his hand, he stroked her head, and endeavored to impress upon her 
young mind the importance of attending to the concerns of her soul in the days 
of her youth. He sometimes endeavored, by signs, to make her understand 
what she could not otherwise understand, being very deficient in the English. 
She was not certain whether she was truly converted at this time, but the im- 
pression then made never was effaced. 

" Another circumstance not to be forgotten is, that he induced my father-in- 
law to set up a Sabbath-school, especially to teach the people to read the Scrip- 
tures in the Gaelic language, for hitherto the children were only taught to read 
English, of which they did not understand one word. Thus Mr. Haldane was 
the founder of the first Sabbath-school that ever was in our country, and, as 
far as I have heard, the first in all the north of Scotland. Now there are about 
ten in this country, five of them belonging to our own denomination. I think 
Mr. Haldane helped my father-in-law to get up a small meeting-house for the 
schools and other meetings. This house was set on fire on a Sabbath morning, 
by parties whom we will not mention. This made a great stir. When the 
proprietor (Sir James Grant, predecessor of the Earl of Seafield) heard of it, he 
was much displeased, and showed much favor to my father-in-law as long as he 
lived, for the family of Grant were always favorable to religion, virtue, and 
liberty. 

" I was told that'Mr. Haldane, while here, met with a captain with whom he 
was acquainted on his sea voyages. This captain invited him to his house, but, 
in the invitation, made use of a great oath. Mr. Haldane faithfully admonished 
him, but went for a night to his house, and the captain never again manifested 
hostility to religion. 

" Ever after this Mr. Haldane felt a lively interest in the cause of God and 
truth in Strathspey. In every letter he sent salutations to the Church, and de- 
sired an interest in our prayers. For many years he and his brother supported 
Mr. Macintosh, as our faithful and beloved pastor, when we could do nothing 
ourselves to support him ; and without him I fear our prosperity would soon 
have come to an end. He felt a great interest in our late revival, and gave us 
many wise counsels regarding the young people who newly professed the truth. 



314 FOUETH TOUK TO THE NORTH. 

We sought his advice in all trying circumstances, and we believe his wise coun- 
sels, as a father in Israel, were at least one means of the measure of prosperity, 
unity, and love, that remained among us when many other Churches divided 
and separated till they made themselves a by-word and a proverb among the 
people." 

It would be tedious to pursue every step in their tour to In- 
verness, Dornoch, Tain, Portmuch, to Wick and Thurso. But 
there are two letters written in the simplest style and in very 
short words, to his eldest child, a little girl of eight years old, 
which may perhaps exhibit some glimpses of his character. The 
first is dated June, 1805 : — 

" My dear Elizabeth, — I wrote to your mamma, from Dun- 
keld, and hope she received the letter. I left Dunkeld on 
Monday, and preached at Logie Eait, where the river Tummel 
joins the Tay. The Tay is the largest river in Scotland, and 
runs out of Loch Tay. I rode up the side of the river to Ken- 
muir, which is situated at the end of the Loch. Tay mouth, where 
Lord Breadalbane has a house, is within a mile of Kenmuir. It 
is a pretty place, and has a large park, with deer. After preach- 
ing I walked to the house, but it was very late, and I saw little 
of it. The old house is now almost taken down, and a new one 
is building, in a castellated style, somewhat like that of the house 
at Airthrey. 

" I rode up the south side of the Loch to Killin, which is just 
at the other end of it. The Loch is sixteen miles long, and is 
very pretty, but it has no islands. Killin is a very beautiful sit- 
uation, and might be made a finer place than Taymouth. On the 
north side of the Loch is Ben Lawers, one of the highest moun- 
tains in Scotland. It is above four thousand feet above the level 
of the sea. But what pleased me more than the beauty of the 
place was, to see many believers in Christ, where there were 
hardly any a few years ago. The Gospel has greatly civilized 
them. They are full of affection to all who love the Lord Jesus. 
I preached three times, at different places, on Monday, for they 
are much scattered. The Psalmist says, God maketh the wrath 
of man to praise him. This is illustrated by what has happened 
here. A man who had a small farm was brought to a knowledge 
of the truth. He at the same time carried on a linen manufac- 
tory, and the Highland Society for encouraging improvements, 
had given him the use of four looms. When he became acquaint- 
ed with Christ, false reports were raised of him, as having become 






ACCOUNT OF THE TOUK. 315 

idle, and the Society ordered the looms to be taken from him. 
This was accordingly done, and by this means a large place was 
emptied, which has served the church to meet in, in winter, ever 
since. Is not the Lord excellent in counsel, and wonderful in 
working ? Had it not been for this, they would not have met in 
winter at all. 

"On Tuesdav we breakfasted with this man, who lives near 
Kenmuir, and proceeded north to Dalnacardoch ; we were obliged 
to walk a good part of the way, on account of the hills, and 
dined at a place, where we could hardly get anything but eggs. 
Dalnacardoch is the next stage to Blair, on the Highland road. 
It is situated in Athol, and is very high, and cold, and disagree- 
able. Next day we crossed the Grampion Hills, which run quite 
across Scotland. ■ They take their rise at Aberdeen. The dis- 
tance from Blair to Aviemore is fifty miles, but people on foot can 
go through the mountains (Glentilt), so as to save half the dis- 
tance. The road runs through an opening in the mountains, or 
it would be impassable for carriages. It rained on us very much, 
but with the umbrella we were kept pretty dry. In the middle 
of the mountains we called at the house of a poor woman, whom 
God lately brought to a knowledge of the truth, by means of a 
preacher who called to get some refreshment, and spoke to her the 
word of the Lord. She was very glad to see us, was very con- 
tented and happy ; but told us she was praying to the Lord to 
open some way for her to remove where she might be nearer the 
Gospel and the people of God. Some time after we passed her 
house, we found we were at the summit, by observing a small 
stream running north. We dined at Dalwhinnie, and afterwards 
crossed the Spey, a little below its source. It becomes a consid- 
erable river, and is the most rapid in Scotland. "We slept at Pit- 
main, and while supper was getting ready, walked to a small vil- 
lage, where we knew there were some believers. The Duchess 
of Gordon lately sent for one of them, a blacksmith, and asked 
him many questions about religion. He told her what the Gos- 
pel was, and referred to some passages in his Bible, which he took 
out of his pocket, which struck her much ; but I must conclude, 
for my paper is full. I trust you are all well. I hope to get a 
letter from your mamma, at Forres, to-day. Write to me as soon 
as you receive this, at Wick. We intend to be there next Lord's- 
day. Give my kind love to all, and to your grandmamma, if she 



316 LETTEK FKOM CAITHNESS. 

is at Portobello, as I suppose. How are the boys doing ? are they 
good scholars ? Farewell, my dear. 

" Yours affectionately, 

"J. A. Haldane. 

" Tell your mamma to desire Mr. Kitchie to send to Caithness 
some copies of the book." 

When they arrived at Wick, Mr. Campbell observes that, be- 
fore Mr. J. Haldane's tour in 1797, only three families " wor- 
shipped God," but now they heard the voice of melody in almost 
every dwelling. Such was the change effected in that destitute 
country. Both of his former tours were well remembered, and 
some of the people now came twenty miles to hear. His second 
letter to his daughter is as follows : — 

"Wick, June 22, 1805. 

" My dear Elizabeth, — As I began to give you an account 
of our journey, I shall conclude it in this letter, instead of 
writing your mamma, as I intended. I left off at Pitmain. We 
preached there in the morning, and proceeded to Aviemore, 
where we left the Inverness road, and came on to Granton. On 
our way to Aviemore, we called at the house of one of the con- 
verts, who had been in the Artillery, and lost both his hands, by 
the going off of a gun. He was brought to a knowledge of the 
truth, by a sermon of Mr. Campbell's, the last time we were north. 
We did not find him at home, but just as we were setting off, 
after dinner, he came running to see us, and appears to be very 
happy in waiting for the coming of Jesus. He occasionally ex- 
horts his fellow-sinners, and sometimes holds out his arms, and 
calls their attention to the goodness of God, in not allowing him 
to die when he was ignorant of Christ. 

" When we arrived at Granton, we found a number of people 
assembled at a fair, and the town also almost full of volunteers, at 
that time quartered there. We preached l although it was late. 
Granton is a village situated on the banks of the Spey. Near it 
Sir James Grant has a house (Castle Grant), and the whole is his 
property. Next day we came to Forres, a very pretty place, about 
four miles from the sea. It is in Morayshire, which is one of the 
best corn countries in Scotland, and the harvest is, in general, as 
early as about Edinburgh. If your mamma would have the trav- 
elling map brought down to Portobello, you might trace the 



LETTER FROM CAITHNESS. 317 

journey we have taken, and this would help to teach you the 
geography of Scotland. I left Mr. C. at Forres, and went on the 
same evening (Saturday) to Elgin, where I spent the Lord's-day. 
On Monday I returned by Forres to Nairn. Several young 
people are under much concern about eternal things. May the 
Lord, my love, manifest His glory to you, as he does not to the 
world ! On Tuesday we preached at Fort George, which was 
erected after the Rebellion in '45, for the security of the High- 
lands. We crossed the Murray frith, which is there very narrow, 
and, after crossing another ferry, got to Invergordon, a small vil- 
lage, and from thence to Tain, the capital of Ross-shire. Owing 
to our being detained and missing our road, it was between twelve 
and one before we arrived. We found the town quite full, owing 
to a review of volunteers, and a company of players who were 
there. We could get no beds. At last, the landlady got some 
blankets spread for us on the floor, where we slept very comfort- 
ably. Next day we attempted to cross the Frith of Dornoch, at 
what is called the Muckle Ferry, but as there was too much wind, 
we were obliged to return to Tain. By this means we preached 
there in the evening ; perhaps the Lord had some wandering 
sheep to gather, and sent us back to proclaim the joyful sound. 
All His ways are wonderful. Next day we crossed the frith, 
dined at Dornoch, the capital of Sutherland, which was all bustle 
about the election of a member of Parliament. A few miles from 
it we crossed the little ferry, and passed Dun Robin Castle, be- 
longing to the Marquis of Stafford. It is a pretty place, and has 
a good many trees, which are not plentiful in that country. We 
went along the sea-shore to Helmsdale, where we arrived late. 
The house was very bad, and their best room was occupied. Next 
morning we entered Caithness, and crossed the Orde, as it is 
called, which, I am told, signifies hammer. It is a great preci- 
pice, almost perpendicular, from the road to the sea, some hun- 
dred feet. The roads were so bad, that we were obliged to walk, 
and lead our gig. We breakfasted at Berrydale, where Sir John 
Sinclair has built a pretty good inn. It is a very romantic place, 
surrounded with mountains. We found here, that a part of the 
ironwork of the gig was broken, and therefore proceeded on foot, 
and slept at a small house, about twelve miles from this, and 
arrived here to-day, in good health. Mr. C. is gone to Thurso. 
Thus we have cause to say, hitherto the Lord has helped us. I 
am sorry to hear you have been unwell, but hope you are better, 



318 LAST OF THE LO!S"G ITINERATING- TOURS. 

and that the Lord will make the illness useful to yon. Our life 
is but a vapor. Let us live for eternity. I received your mamma's 
letter at Forres, and expect one here from her. — Yours, &c. 

" J. A. Haldane." 

They remained in Caithness for a fortnight, and went by the 
sea-shore to Dun Robin Castle, where Mr. James Haldane ad- 
dressed a regiment of volunteers, who, although out on a field- 
day, were dismissed early, that they might hear him preach. 
They returned, by Inverness and Huntly, to Aberdeen, and 
thence to Edinburgh, preaching along the line of road. 

This was the last of his prolonged and very extensive summer 
tours. In the following year and at various other times, he made 
many shorter tours, both in the Highlands and the west and north 
of Scotland. But he was never again absent for many weeks 
together, The number of faithful ministers throughout the 
country was now greatly increased, and, not to dwell on the great 
awakening in the Establishment, and in the other Presbyterian 
bodies, there were already dispersed through the country, from 
Mr. Haldane's seminaries, nearly two hundred preachers, exclu- 
sive of those who had retired from the service, gone to America, 
or died, or become disqualified. That number was still augment- 
ing, for, in 1805, there were sixty-four students in Edinburgh, 
besides those at Elgin and Armagh. It is also proper to take 
into account the growing cares of a large Church and congrega- 
tion, the former probably then consisting of six hundred mem- 
bers, irrespective of those belonging to Mr. Aikman's. 

The late Dr. Russell, of Dundee, who was one of the chief or- 
naments of the seminaries formed after their removal from Glas- 
gow, has left on record the following testimony : — 

" By means of the movement which took place at that period, there was 
awakened a spirit of greater zeal in various religious bodies. A more pointed 
manner of preaching was adopted by many. There came to be more discrim- 
ination of character. The empty flourish of the instrument gave place to the 
well-defined tones and melodies, which awaken all the sympathies of the soul. 
The unfettered freeness of the Gospel was more fully proclaimed, while its 
practical influence was more distinctly unfolded. In the course of time, there 
appeared an increased and increasing number of Evangelical ministers in the 
Establishment, and a beneficial influence was formed to operate upon other 
denominations." 

When the Haldanes and their early coadjutors entered the field 
they were almost the only preachers of the Gospel in the destitute 






LETTER FROM MR. SIMEON. 319 

parts of Scotland, such as Caithness, Kintyre, Arran, or Breadal- 
bane. They were almost the only promoters of Sabbath-schools, 
which the General Assembly denounced, and the only distribu- 
tors of religious tracts. But now, Scotland was placed under a 
new spiritual agency. The "missionaries," as they were called, 
were found preaching in every village and Highland glen, and 
in every locality they had their schools and lay agency. At first, 
they had all the prestige which belonged to Eeformers in the 
Church in which they were educated, but after the institution of 
Congregationalism they lost this advantage, and became shackled 
by divisions in their own camp. 

" There are," says a well-informed minister belonging to the Congregational 
Union, writing in 1849, — ''there are now, spread over the length and breadth 
of Scotland, perhaps a thousand preachers of the Gospel more than when our 
Evangelists first went forth, and under no small obloquy, misrepresentation, 
and opposition broke up the fallow ground. Such is the change now, that 
some of our itinerants and country pastors can get a good congregation in 
their preaching excursions only by obtaining permission to occupy a Free- 
Church pulpit." 

Provided Christ was preached, it mattered little to either of 
the Haldanes what instrumentality was employed. To them 
Churchmen or Dissenters, Baptists or Independents, were alike 
welcome, if they proclaimed the Gospel in its purity and power. 
An extract from a letter of Mr. Simeon, written at this time, will 
show how he too, in the maturity of his judgment, continued to 
overlook party distinctions : — 

"My very dear Friend and Brother, — I have just received from you a 
parcel containing some books and tracts, both of your own and others, for 
which I most sincerely thank you. ... I suppose that you may have seen 
my sermon on the Churchman's confession, and apprehended, from the note that 
is in it, that I am become an Arminian and a Methodist, in the strict sense of 
the word. I am happy to assure you, if this be your fear, that you may dismiss 
it utterly. My sentiments are precisely the same as when I had the happiness 
of travelling with you. But persons in North Britain are not aware of the use 
that is here made of the word Calvinism; they do not know that all religion is 
now scouted under that term, and that there is a necessity here for showing that 
Christianity existed before Calvin. This matter also has been so strongly taken 
up (especially of late) in this University, that I was compelled, for the Lord's 
sake, to insert the challenge there given to the great champion, — a challenge he 
has never dared to accept. I merely say thus much to counteract by truth what 
I know to be the impression on the north side of the Tweed. My object is to 
inculcate the truth, the very truth of God, and not to stand up for this or that 
name. As to Calvin, I certainly unite with him in many things, but not in all : 
he carries his ideas of reprobation much farther than I. 



320 LETTEE FEOM ME. SIMEON. 

" You, my dear brother, have been stirred up to activity in the service of your 
God ; and J rejoice unfeignedly in all the good that you have been enabled to do. 
You alone can judge how far your original design (somewhat according with 
the first intentions of the Methodists) has been kept in view ; but I apprehend 
that it is almost impossible for such weak creatures as we to execute any new 
projects in such a manner as not to find, at a future period, that there was some 
room for improvement. 

" You will be glad to hear that, all things considered, we have great reason 
for thankfulness at Cambridge. The work, on the whole, is going on both in 
the town and University, and souls are added to the Lord. 

" I hope your good lady is prospering, both in soul and body, and that our 
gracious God will continue both to you and her his richest blessings. 

" Believe me, my dear friend, most affectionately yours, 

«C. Simeon 

" Rev. J. Haldane." 



CHAPTER XVI. 

[1799—1810.] 

The institution o^ the Congregational Churches separate from 
the Scottish Establishment was the result of unforeseen circum- 
stances, and not of a preconcerted plan. For a long time after 
the formation of the Tabernacle Church, questions of ecclesiasti- 
cal discipline never seemed to impede the hallowed object to which 
its pastor had consecrated his life. To use his own language, " It 
was, in fact, no separation from the Establishment. It was merely 
opening another place of worship for preaching the Gospel with- 
out regard to forms of external arrangement or Church order, and 
where the pastor and many of the members showed their catholic 
spirit by going to the Sacrament in the Established Church. Add 
to this, that the preaching was almost entirely addressed to the 
people of the world." It might have been well, had it been pos- 
sible, that these views and objects had always remained the same. 
But in the very nature of things this was not to be expected, 
although years elapsed before attention to the apostolic order of 
primitive Churches seriously distracted attention, and necessarily 
produced difference of opinion, accompanied by divisions. 

Mr. Ewing, as might be anticipated, was foremost in the pro 
motion of a new system of Church order, and to him, no doubt, 
may be conceded the title which has been claimed for him as "the 
Father of modern Congregationalism in Scotland." No one can 
turn over the early pages of his " Missionary Magazine" without 
discovering something more than the germ of every progressive 
change which afterwards took place in trying to approximate to 
the ideal model of primitive Christianity. His intimacy with his 
Baptist friend, Dr. Charles Stuart, tended to this result, as well as 
his early partiality for the works of Grlas and Sandeman. In 1801, 
Mr. James Haldane addressed to him a letter from Dumfries, 

21 



322 PROTEST AGAINST SANDEMANIANISM. 

amongst other things, warning him against their introduction into 
the Seminary, and complaining of his "enthusiastic manner" of 
speaking of these frigid and bitter theologians. Mr. Ewing replied, 
that he had so much approved of this letter as a whole, that he 
had read it all to the class, excepting that part of it which related 
to Glas and Sandeman. 

In 1808, Mr. Aikman declared, that before the secession from 
the Establishment, mixed communion in the Lord's Supper, — that 
is, communion with inconsistent or worldly professors, — had been 
to him and others an "intolerable burden." It became, therefore, 
one of the first principles of the new Church, that none should 
be admitted whose sentiments and consistency of conduct did not, 
in the judgment of charity, evince the truth of their own vital 
Christianity. It was asked, with much force, whether this was 
not a vain and Utopian endeavor after a beautiful ideal purity, 
which never can be attained until the day when the tares and the 
wheat shall be forever separated. Such, however, was their lead- 
ing principle, and it necessarily involved an implied protest, which 
gradually became more distinct, against an alliance with the State 
as interfering with pure communion. It was next assumed by 
the new Church as a principle, that Christians are religiously 
bound to conform their ecclesiastical usages to the practice or cus- 
toms of the apostolic Churches. Proceeding on this assumption, 
Mr. Ewing first introduced at Glasgow the practice of celebrating 
the Lord's Supper every Lord's-day. This innovation on the 
Scottish custom of having it only twice a-year was adopted in 
Edinburgh not long afterwards, and finally in all the new churches 
in Scotland from the date of Mr. James A. Haldane's treatise, 
published in 1802, to prove that it was agreeable to the apostolic 
order and the practice of the primitive Churches. Mr. Ewing, 
in his published "Eules of Church Government," next added, 
" Besides the ordinary public worship of the Lord's-day, there 
shall be a Church-meeting weekly, for the purposes of social wor- 
ship, discipline, and mutual edification." ; In social worship, Mr. 
Ewing intended to include the practice of the pastor's occasion- 
ally asking any private member, who appeared to have a gift in 
prayer, to lead the devotions of the Church. The "mutual edi- 
fication" was to be carried on by any private member, sponta 
neously or by appointment, offering an "exhortation," or address 
to the Church, on a passage of Scripture. This last plan was, no 
doubt, an innovation calculated to usurp the pastor's office, but it 



MR. E WING'S RULES OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 323 

was originally proposed by Mr. Ewing, as his amiable biographer 
records, "as affording what he had long before wished for, namely, 
a fellowship meeting on a large scale." 

In 1804, Dr. Innes published his "Keasons for separating from 
the Church of Scotland, in a Series of Letters, chiefly addressed 
to his Christian Friends in that Establishment" About the same 
time, Mr. Carson, who had left the General Synod of Ulster in 
Ireland, published a pamphlet containing his reasons for separa- 
tion. Mr. James Haldane, in 1805, next produced a volume, 
which quickly ran through two editions, entitled, " Yiews of the 
Social Worship of the first Churches," &c, "a work," says Mr. 
Orme, "which contained much important truth, in a spirit with 
which even the adversaries of his system could scarcely be 
offended." 

These publications drew forth replies from the Eev. Mr. Brown, 
parish minister of Langton, and some other writers, which were 
answered by Mr. J. Haldane, Mr. Ewing, and Mr. Carson ; but it 
was not till 1807 that there was any open manifestation of divis- 
ion in the new Churches. At length, however, to use the words 
of Mr. Kinniburgh, in his very candid "Historical Survey," — 
"A withering blast came from the north, which was attended with 
direful consequences. We refer to the circulation of Ballantyne's 
1 Treatise on the Elders' Office.' " Mr. Ballantyne had been at 
first placed in Thurso, but afterwards removed to a Tabernacle 
at Elgin, also built by Mr. Haldane, capable of holding 1,500 
people, where, also, a class of missionary students was under his 
tuition. In 1805 Mr. James Haldane's "View of Social Wor- 
ship" had indicated his decided opinion, that, instead of having, 
what Mr. Ewing termed "fellowship meetings on a large scale," 
only on the week-days, when many of the Church could not 
attend, they should be held on the day consecrated to the worship 
of the Lord. He argued that, if "exhorting one another" was 
really one of the means positively appointed by Christ for the 
public edification of the Church, as Mr. Ewing had contended, it 
was difficult to comprehend why it should be observed in a cor- 
ner, and not be deemed proper on the Lord's own day. The Eev. 
John Newton himself, in the third letter of his "Apologia," con- 
sidered mutual exhortation to be so clearly an apostolic practice, 
that he there states the neglect of it to have been one reason for 
his not having joined the Dissenters ; and he argued, that, if they 
did not observe this apostolic practice, Dissenters could not 



324 DISCUSSIONS ON CHUECH OEDEE. 

blame him for, in other respects, deviating from the primitive 
model. 

But the views propounded by Mr. James Haldane were never 
intended by him to have been prematurely forced into practice at 
the risk of fomenting division. In these matters he felt it his 
duty honestly to state his own convictions, and then to leave 
them to work their way, acting on the apostolic model, " Where- 
unto we have attained, let us walk by the same rule." His brother 
had the same convictions as to apostolic usages, and was, more- 
over, less disposed to delay the experiment of carrying them into 
actual operation. In 1805, accompanied by Mr. Ballantyne, he 
made a journey to England, preaching at different places ; and, 
both at Newcastle and in London, remained for some time, prac- 
tising the views of social worship which were developed in his 
brother's book, and which both of them then thought calculated 
to call into exercise the gifts of the private members, and to min- 
ister to the edification of the Church. The late Eev. James Har- 
rington Evans appears, at a much later period, in the maturity of 
his judgment, to have entertained the same views which so many 
years before commended themselves in theory to the two Hal* 
danes. It was probably well for the Church in John-street, Bed- 
ford-row, that " only occasional addresses were given," although 
his recently published and interesting Memoirs show that he con- 
sidered his Church incomplete in its constitution, because it had 
not a plurality of elders " to labor co-ordinately with, or subordi- 
nately to him," and did not enjoy the supposed advantage of mu- 
tual exhortation by those of the deacons and members who were 
supposed to be peculiarly gifted * In the midst of these debates 
the paramount importance of preaching the Gospel was upheld 
as firmly as ever by both the brothers, whilst their views of Chris- 
tian forbearance remained unshaken to the close of life. Mr. 
Ballantyne's pamphlets, which also contended for a presbytery, 
or plurality of elders, in every Church, were circulated by Mr. 
Robert Haldane, and embodied his own views. 

Into a discussion of these topics it is needless to plunge. 
Whether the Lord's Sapper should be observed twice a year, 
once a month, or once a week ; whether the mutual exhortation 
of brethren, by means of public speaking, be, or be not, a bind- 
ing duty ; whether a plurality of elders be, or be not, imperative 
in every properly constituted Church ; whether collections should 
* " Memoir of Eev. J. H. Evans," p. 61. . 



IKFANT BAPTISM. 325 

be made at the doors from the public, or only privately amongst 
the communicants ; these were questions which may be weighed 
and decided in their proper place, but must be regarded but as 
the tithe of mint, anise, and cummin, compared with those great 
and saving doctrines of the Grospel with which the time, the tal- 
ents, and labors of the two brothers were, after all, supremely oc- 
cupied. It is enough for the purposes of these Memoirs, to give 
an outline of the facts faithfully and without partiality. 

After these debates had been for some time in agitation, Mr. 
James Haldane, in a letter, dated February 19th, 1808, informs 
Mr. Campbell, that at various intervals he had entertained doubts 
as to the scriptural authority for infant baptism, although he had, 
again and again, come to the conclusion, that the presumptive 
evidence in its favor preponderated. Still the recurrence of these 
doubts led him to suspect that he had not fully fathomed the 
subject, and, therefore, after his return from England, at the 
end of 1804, he had determined fully to examine the Scriptures 
at his leisure, with prayer for direction and a desire to be led to a 
right conclusion. He felt that, on former occasions, his examina- 
tions had been conducted under the influence of a fear of dimin- 
ishing his usefulness, if he were obliged to renounce infant bap- 
tism, but at last he was " delivered from this snare," and became 
satisfied that the more simply he followed the Lord, the more 
useful he should in reality be. In short, he now viewed the con- 
flict of duty and usefulness as one that was absurd. The result 
was, that, after mature deliberation and reading deeply on the 
subject, his doubts so much increased that, on an occasion when 
he was requested to administer infant baptism, he was obliged to 
inform the Church, that, although his mind was not made up to 
become himself a Baptist, yet that, at present, he could not con- 
scientiously baptize children. He concludes his letter : — " If I 
had not been compelled to baptize, I should never have men- 
tioned my doubts till they were fully satisfied. At the same 
time, I informed the Church that, although I were baptized, I 
should be of the same mind as formerly, that the Baptists and 
Psedo-baptists might have fellowship together." 

On the 21st of April he again addresses Mr. Campbell, inform- 
ing him that the crisis was past, and that he had been baptized, 
but that, with regard to the Church, this was to be a matter of 
forbearance. He adds, "If we are all acting on conviction, and 
both desiring to know the will of Jesus in this and in all other 



826 . divisions. 

respects. I have no apprehension of disunion. Of one thing I 
am sure, that all who love the Lard Jesus should, so ::: as they 
agreed, walk bv the same rule and mind the seme tmr_ t s : and if 
it be improper for Baptists to be in fellowship in the same Church, 
it must be equally improper to have occasional fellowship in 
private." 

These letters, and much more that might be produced, indicate 
Mr. J. Haldane's anxiety to prevent disunion on a point upon 
which Christians differ. But these fond hopes were deome :~. : : 
disappointment. His views of mutual forbearance, however 
strongly urged, —ere not reciprocated and a rupture took place 
in the Edinburgh Tabernacle Church. which, t: use the words :: 
Air. Orme. severed " one of the most numerous and respects ate 
Independent Socities that had ever been in Britain.'' 

The manner of the disruption is detailed in the following ex- 
tract from Mr. Haldane's •• Answer to Mr. Ewing :" — 

"Some of the members went "back to the Established Chureh, some fa the 
Church in College-street (Mr. Aikman's . others to that in Xiddry-street T>±r. 
Maclean's), while a considerable number determined to become c, 5r:::;.:e 
Church and rent a large room to meet in. The rest remained with my brother. 
in the Tabernacle. These, wkieh vere more numerous than any of the othr: di- 
visions, were of One mind, except on the subject o: baptism, vhaica they thought 
might be made a matter of forbearance.'* 

The division spread, not only in the Edinburgh Churches, but 

throughout the whole of Scotland. In Edinburgh the excitement 
was great. Nearly 200 members followeil their pester: and. 
within a year, his cider brother else embraced Baptist sentiments, 
Still it might be a matter of surprise that the separation between 
the Baptists and Paedo-baptists in the new connection should 
have been so complete. But the numbers wh:» followed tneir 
pastor, and the great influence of both the brothers, as well as 
the proselytizing zeal of some of the more forward and inexpe- 
rienced of the 3 and preachers, proba Mr. Aik- 
man, and urged him to take a more decided line of : jsition 
than appears consonant with his amiable sprit and the strong 
personal respect and attachment with which he stiil regarded his 
old friends. The following lc ii exhibit the views which 
actuated the leaders of that large and res: n of the 
Tabernacle Churches which declined for' : : — 
Fr ; ; M'. Aikm . . M \ C 

- Edinburgh. 1: 1808. 

"My dear Brother. — Had ability been afforded me. I would certain] v I 



MR. AIKMAN SEPARATES. 327 

written you before this, to communicate to you the very painful situation in 
which the Churches have been placed for some months past." 

After speaking of his own health, and the suffering state of his 
eyes, he proceeds, — 

" I have seen it my duty totally to withdraw from the connection at the 
Tabernacle, as well as a number of the most respectable members of the 
Church, who now assemble at Bernard's rooms. My stipulated supplies from 
the Tabernacle are now cut off. Indeed, I have noic completely given them up, as I 
perceive it to be of much importance for the general good of the cause to have 
no visible or Church fellowship with brethren who have for years past, at New- 
castle and London, been acting upon a system which appears to be destructive, 
both of the pastoral office and of all order in the house of God. This I have 
fully stated to both our dear brethren and to our Church, who have, after long 
and painful discussion, decided to continue to act upon their acknowledged 
principles, and to decline the relation of a sister Church with a Church com- 
posed of Baptists and Paedo-Baptists, under a Baptist pastor." He adds, " Our 
necessity is now very great, and I can no longer reckon on supplies." 

The allusion, in the foregoing letter, to the schism at Newcastle, 
is to Mr. Eobert Haldane's proceedings on the journey, in 1805, 
already noticed, when he first introduced the practice of mutual 
exhortation, three years before it was commenced in Edinburgh. 
Mr. J. A. Haldane was, in this matter, rather more cautious than 
his brother. But, although he gave no countenance to the meet- 
ings at Newcastle or London, he never, like his colleague, Mr. 
Aikman, dreamed of stigmatizing them, as "schism, for which 
Mr. Haldane and Mr. Ballantyne ought to have been excommuni- 
cated." " A sinful respect of persons," says Mr. Aikman, " pre- 
vented his brother (Mr. J. A. Haldane), as I believe, and certainly 
myself, from making that business a matter of Church discipline." 
Such were the views of Christian liberty entertained even by so 
good and holy and amiable a man as Mr. Aikman. Mr. Haldane's 
own defence of his conduct is contained in a letter to Mr. Camp- 
bell, dated December 26, 1807 :— 

" Everything," he says, " ought, indeed, to have its proper place in our es- 
teem. But is it reverential to God to suppose that He has enjoined some things 
which have a tendency to lead us away from heaven, or that everything He has 
revealed is not in itself directly subservient to his glory and our salvation ? 
Are the things spoken of not a part of his revelation ? Then let them not be 
called small things and nonessentials. Let them be called nothing, and then 
we ought decidedly to oppose them, as forming no part of our duty. But, if 
they are a part of it, then it is surely both irreverent and unwise to set them 
aside under any name whatever. This is changing times and laws. It is taking 
too much upon us." 



328 CONSEQUENCES. 

But, in order to comprehend clearly how it was that the shock 
arising out of these divisions was so fatal to the progress of Con- 
gregationalism in Scotland, it is necessary to observe how much 
the whole of the recent ecclesiastical movement depended on the 
two brothers. It was easy for Mr. Ewing to complain, that it was 
improper that their theological seminary should be dependent oc 
the will of "an individual;" and it was quite open for him and 
other leaders to unite in the declaration, that they have " no visi- 
ble or Church fellowship" with Mr. Haldane or his brother. But 
it was not so easy to neutralize their influence, or to get on with- 
out it. One important part of this influence is stated by the Be v. 
Dr. Lindsay Alexander, whose own talents and weight of char- 
acter have now made himself a chief pillar of " Scottish Congre- 
gational Union." 

" In estimating," says Dr. L. Alexander, " the causes which furthered the 
rapid growth of Congregationalism in Scotland at the first, beyond what the 
intrinsic energies of the system, left to their own operation, would, in all proba- 
bility, have effected, something must be assigned to the excitement of the 
public mind at the time ; something, also, to the novelty of the plans adopted 
by the founders of that system ; and not a little to the sympathy which was 
felt for men of high character and talents, who were made the objects of ec- 
clesiastical censure and personal obloquy, simply in consequence of their zeal 
for the spiritual welfare of their countrymen. The chief of these extrinsic 
causes of prosperity, however, was, beyond all question, liberal pecuniary aid 
afforded to the party by ATr. Robert Haldane. 

" The establishment of a new religious sect in such a country as this is al- 
ways, of necessity, connected with heavy expenses, or a serious weight of 
pecuniary obligation. Places of worship must be built, and funds for carrying 
on the cause must be provided; and where the adherents of the new party are 
neither numerous nor wealthy, the impediment thus thrown in the way of their 
progress is often insurmountable. From all such difficulties the first propaga- 
tors of Congregationalism in Scotland were, in a great measure, exempted, by 
the. liberality with which Mr. Haldane employed his great wealth* in advancing 
the interests of their cause. By the support of itinerant preachers, by money 
advanced to erect chapels, and by aid rendered to Churches that were unable 
of themselves adequately to support their pastors, Mr. Haldane contributed 
very materially to give Congregationalism a prosperous footing in Scotland. 
The influence, however, thus exerted was rather from without than within ; it 
was a system rather of forcing than of natural growth ; and the consequence 

* Great and small are comparative terms. But the term, great wealth, by no 
means applied to Mr. Haldane's fortune, according to the scale of modern opulence. 
The amount which he devoted to the cause of the Gospel was. indeed, very large, 
but it was still more remarkable as contrasted with the comparatively moderate 
extent of his income. 



ME. EWING. 329 

was, a show of flower and fruit much greater than the plant, when left to itself 
and to ordinary influences, could sustain." 

All this seems to have been forgotten or overlooked, when the 
disruption, on account of questions of ecclesiastical polity, was 
precipitated, in spite of the earnest public and private remon- 
strances of both the Haldanes. But was it reasonable to suppose 
that, when the body was thus torn asunder, Mr. Haldane should 
continue to lavish his fortune upon that section of it which had 
thus peremptorily resolved to have " no visible Church fellow- 
ship" with him or his brother ? Had he at once withdrawn his 
support from all the Churches by whom he was practically excom- 
municated ; had he at once shut up all the chapels in the posses- 
sion of those who came to such a violent conclusion, who could 
have justly blamed him ? Was it not rather strange that those 
who, for such trivial reasons, refused all "visible connection" with 
him in Church fellowship, should have consented to avail them- 
selves of his property ? 

But, unhappily, there was also another " root of bitterness," 
which had in fact secretly tended to precipitate the disruption, 
connected with a personal misunderstanding between Mr. Kobert 
Haldane and Mr. Ewing. For the first few years of their inter- 
course, Mr. Haldane had admired the persevering industry of 
Mr. Ewing, as well as his natural talents and ardent character. 
But almost from the moment when a pecuniary relation was estab- 
lished between them, conferring on Mr. Haldane the rights inci- 
dent to the management of his own property, and the oversight 
of the students whom he supported, almost from that moment 
Mr. Ewing became jealous of Mr. Haldane's relative position and 
impatient of his control. The removal of the Seminary from 
Glasgow was the natural consequence, but the management of the 
Glasgow Tabernacle still left occasion for painful collision. The 
details of Mr. E wing's complaints, for the most part in themselves 
unimportant, were contained in a pamphlet of 206 pages, which 
it is impossible to read, at the distance of more than forty years, 
without something like a feeling of "melancholy mirth" at the 
jaundiced medium through which a grieved or troubled spirit 
viewed Mr. Haldane's motives, not only in regard to the Taber- 
nacle and the Seminary, but even as to the proposal that Mr. 
Ewing should have a distinguished place in the Indian Mission. 
Mr. Haldane had already printed letters addressed to Mr. Ewing 



330 MR. HALDAKES STATEMENT. 

on the subject of the matter in discussion, but probably the annals 
of controversy never produced a more complete and detailed ref- 
utation than was published by him in the year 1810, in a volume 
of 406 octavo pages, which was sold for the nominal sum of one 
shilling, and gives a minute history of every one of his transactions 
with Mr. Ewing from the beginning of their acquaintance. It 
would be far more agreeable to allow the whole to sleep in ob- 
livion, and yet it seems needful, as a matter connected with the 
ecclesiastical history of Scotland, to offer a few words of brief 
explanation. Happily these are to be found under Mr. Haldane's 
own hand, written not long before his death, when every spark 
of irritation against Mr. Ewing had been long extinguished, and 
he was looking forward to his own departure at no very distant 
period. Mr. Haldane writes as follows : — 

" The unhappy difference which arose between Mr. Ewing and me was not 
matter of private discussion. Every particular, even the minutest and most 
ridiculous, was, thirty years ago, brought before the world, and into every single 
one of his charges I entered fully and particularly, in a volume which was widely 
circulated, which was never answered, and which, I fearlessly add, was unan- 
swerable. 

"With Mr. Ewing I became acquainted in the year 1795, when he was intro- 
duced to me by his brother-in-law, then minister of Stirling, as one whose talents 
and character fitted him to be a coadjutor in a plan, which I at that period 
entertained, for the promotion of Christianity in Bengal. Mr. Ewing was then 
the assistant minister of Lady Glenorchy's Church in Edinburgh, with a salary 
of 120Z. per annum. In arranging the scheme of the Bengal Mission, I thought 
it right to secure the temporal interests of those whom I designed to carry with 
me to India. I therefore agreed to pay to Mr. Ewing, as well as my other 
coadjutors, 3,500Z. before leaving England, and also to convey them to Calcutta 
at my own expense. The design failed, in consequence of the opposition of the 
East India Company Directors and of the Board of Control. Baffled in my 
endeavor to be useful in India, I turned my attention to the state of religion 
in Scotland, and among other plans to which it is unnecessary to advert, I pur- 
chased a building at Glasgow, which I converted into a chapel, or, as it was 
called, a Tabernacle, and there placed Mr. Ewing. The cost of the building 
was 3,000/., and I secured it to Mr. Ewing for life, on the condition that he 
should fulfil certain stipulations connected with the preaching of the Gospel, the 
celebration of Divine ordinances, and other objects of a similar character. 

" For some time the plan answered exceedingly well. Mr. Ewing preached 
to a large congregation, and formed an Independent Church. He also, in con- 
nection with his other engagements, taught a theological seminary, which was 
a sort of appendage to the Tabernacle, where a number of young men were 
educated for the ministry, solely at my expense. By the bond securing the 
chapel to Mr. Ewing, I made myself responsible that he should receive, at all 



MR. haldane's statement. 331 

hazards, 2007. a year from the Church, but that the surplus of the seat-rents, if 
any, should be devoted to the maintenance of the seminary, for conducting 
which Mr. Ewing was also to have an annual payment of 200L In the course 
of time, however, differences arose between us. Mr. Ewing was unwilling that 
I should exercise that control over the class which I never felt it my duty to 
abandon, and by degrees he also deviated, in several important particulars, from 
the views which he had undertaken to support. In the midst of the discussions 
to which these differences gave rise, Mr. Ewing intimated his opinion that I 
should not only leave him in the full control of the seminary, but that I should 
also resign to others the property which I retained in the Tabernacle. The 
absurdity of such a proposal is self-evident, more especially when viewed in 
connection with the fact, that the Church and congregation being numerous, 
were well able to defray the expenses of a building in which to meet for divine 
worship. But while I at once rejected the unreasonable proposal, it immediately 
occurred to me that it would be in every way preferable that Mr. Ewing's wish 
as to his independence of me should be carried into effect, although not by the 
uncalled-for sacrifice of my property. I therefore offered to part with the 
Tabernacle to his Church ; and in order to make the matter easier, I intimated 
my willingness to sell it for two thirds of the price which it cost. This might 
have been enough to satisfy both Mr. Ewing and his supporters, but the offer 
was rejected, and I was still urged to surrender it into their hands, and without 
reserve. 

" It was at this stage of the business that I began to see the unsatisfactory 
character of the arrangement we had originally entered into, and, in my turn, I 
requested Mr. Ewing to resign his interest in the house, and to call upon his 
Church to provide accommodation for their minister and themselves at their 
own, and not at my expense. To prompt Mr. Ewing's determination, I assured 
him that the price which I was willing to accept should not be employed for my 
own private advantage, but should be devoted to some public object connected 
with the translation and distribution of the Scriptures. 

" Such is the history of this transaction. I never, as Mr. Ewing at one period 
chose to imagine, intended to deprive him of his life-rent interest in my property 
by any legal process. My appeal was solely to his sense of justice and his 
Christian principles, and in the sequel he did resign the chapel, although not till 
after a painful discussion, in which, as I have already said, I did not leave unan- 
swered one charge, however minute, that was brought against me. Mr. Ewing 
had departed publicly from the views on which we had agreed to aet. He had 
attacked the seminary which he had engaged to conduct, and which was to have 
been supported out of the surplus produce of the house. He had attacked the 
Society for Propagating the Gospel at Home. He had fomented the schism in 
my brother's Church in Edinburgh, of which I was a member. He was im- 
patient of my retaining my property in the chapel. Was it wonderful, then, 
that I should seek to put an end to a connection which was only calculated to 
occasion pain to both parties ? And was not my conduct in desiring the termi- 
nation of our disputes, by the means there pointed out, at least as reasonable 
as the conduct of those who were willing to maintain possession of the chapel, 
and to enjoy, at my expense, that accommodation which they were so well able 
to procure for themselves, at the same time that they were publicly and violently 



332 MR. HALDANE'S OUTLAY. 

opposing the principles, on the profession of which it was dedicated to their 
use ? It is unnecessary to enter on the particulars of some of the charges 
then brought against me by Mr. Ewing. My answer to these charges will be 
found in the history of the thirty years which have passed over me since they 
were first advanced. But as almost all of these charges resolved themselves 
into some form of covetousness, I may add that, at the time when they were 
advanced, I had in the course of nine years (from 1799 to 1807) expended be- 
tween 50,000Z. and 60,000Z. on objects connected with the propagation of the 
Gospel at home, with which Mr. Ewing was well acquainted." 

Such, was the outline of these painful differences. To this ex- 
penditure must be added that of the other years not included in 
the co-operation with Mr. Ewing, besides the loss on loans, on 
which interest ought to have been paid. Eeckoning from 1798 
to 1810, the years of Mr. Haldane's extraordinary exertions, it 
appears that, in round figures, lie had given away within that pe- 
riod considerably more than seventy thousand pounds. 

The difference with Mr. Ewing was one which occasioned pain 
to Mr. Haldane in proportion to the pleasure he had taken in 
their mutual co-operation. The following is an extract from one 
of Mr. Haldane's letters to Mr. Ewing, before the latter published 
on the subject : — 

" On looking back on the intercourse you and I had, I see many things amiss 
on both sides, while I trust there is also cause for thanksgiving. But while we 
should be humbled in the dust on account of all that has been wrong, we 
should remember with gratitude that the door of mercy and pardon through a 
Redeemer stands open, and we ought to be ready mutually to explain, to 
repent, and to intercede for one another. Should the matter for the present 
unhappily end otherwise, I should regret it exceedingly, but I thus exonerate 
myself; and in order to make the return on your part to the path of duty, at 
any time afterwards, as easy as possible, I declare it is my determination, 
through grace, that no sinful distance or interruption to the maintenance of 
peace and love shall in future rest with me." 

With reference to the charge, which at this distance of time 
seems so utterly absurd, that in reclaiming the Glasgow Taberna- 
cle Mr. Haldane was influenced by mercenary motives, the follow- 
ing is an extract from another letter: — "I have informed Mr. 
Harley and you that pecuniary reimbursement is not my object. 
If you now purchase the house, or give it up, it is my intention 
to apply, without delay, what I receive from the property in 
translating and multiplying copies of the Scriptures." This vol- 
untary pledge was faithfully observed. After some delay, the 
Glasgow Tabernacle was restored by Mr. Ewing, and a new one 



GROUNDLESS COMPLAINTS. 333 

built by his congregation. The old one was sold to Mr. Mac- 
gavin at a price below the original cost, but rather above that at 
which it had been offered to Mr. Ewing's Church. The produce 
was devoted by Mr. Haldane to the translation and circulation of 
the Scriptures. Interest was added every year on the capital not 
expended, and the whole account was settled by auditors, so scru- 
pulous was he with reference to the matter, in which his motives 
had been, in the heat of passion, so unwarrantably assailed. But 
there is one lesson which Mr. Haldane was anxious to enforce, 
which it may be right to mention. It is this : " I wish solemnly 
to warn others, who may be afterwards placed in circumstances 
similar to those in which I stood, never to deviate so far from the 
line of duty, under the idea of doing a service acceptable to God, 
as to place their talents by a legal instrument at the disposal of 
another person, however highly they may esteem him. This is a 
very different thing from laying down property at the feet of an 
apostle." 

After what has been said, it is scarcely needful to allude to 
another of the charges frequently brought against Mr. Haldane 
in the heat of controversy, namely, that of distressing the 
Churches which did not embrace his views, or suddenly with- 
drawing his support from their preachers. No doubt the cessa- 
tion of Ins bounty was, in itself, "distressing," but it was attribu- 
table to those who refused to practise mutual forbearance, and 
was to a considerable extent compensated by the contributions 
which it prompted from the Congregationalists in England, as 
well as Scotland. It might be contradiction enough, to state one 
broad fact, that out of a sum amounting to 26,295?. expended 
upon chapels, excluding the original cost of that at Edinburgh, 
Mr. Haldane never received back more than 5,596Z. But to the 
groundless charge of harshness, in recalling his property from 
those who rejected his communion, he published two conclusive 
answers, the one in 1810, and the other in 1816. The whole of 
his pecuniary transactions with the Scottish Congregationalists 
had been managed by the late excellent and respected William 
Dymock, Esq., of George-square, Edinburgh, W.S., who himself 
adhered to Mr. Aikman, and was opposed to Mr. Haldane's sen- 
timents, both on baptism and Church government. Mr. Dymock's 
testimony was therefore the more important, because it was not 
only backed by knowledge, but characterized by candor. By de- 
sire of Mr. Haldane, his letter-books were opened to full exami- 



334 DR. INNES. 

nation, and it was proved by the exhibition of his correspondence 
and the chapel accounts, that none of the complaints had any 
just foundation. Never, in any solitary case, had Mr. Haldane 
resorted to coercion, in order to recover his money. On the con- 
trary, he often remitted a great part of the capital due, and still 
oftener all the interest. In regard to the chapels, the real griev- 
ance was this, that he did not convert into a gift what was only 
intended as a loan ; and so far as the preachers were concerned, 
he distributed amongst them no less than 7001. out of his own 
purse, in the year following the disruption. Dr. Kyland had 
heard of subscriptions being called for in England, to repay Mr. 
Haldane's demands on chapels, and, as if it had been intended 
that this charge should be published, in order to secure a public 
refutation, the good Doctor mentioned the report in his "Life of 
Andrew Fuller." But when called upon for his authority, he 
had none ; and, after a full examination of Mr. Dymock's evi- 
dence, he appended an apology to his volume, saying, "I am 
now convinced that the report there stated (in the "Life of Ful- 
ler") is utterly without foundation? The part which Dr. Innes, 
from a high sense of duty, took in satisfying Dr. B} T land, unfor- 
tunately gave umbrage to his brother-in-law, Mr. Ewing ; but Dr. 
Innes' testimony to Mr. Haldane was all the more valuable, be- 
cause, without any breach of friendship or angry disputation, he 
had voluntarily relinquished a bond, securing to him an income 
out of the Tabernacle of Dundee, similar to that which Mr. Ew- 
ing held in respect of Glasgow. On quitting Dundee, Dr. Innes 
came to Edinburgh, in the first instance to assume the care of the 
seceders from the Tabernacle, but shortly afterwards he himself 
having changed his own sentiments on infant baptism, became 
the pastor of a Church composed of Christians holding various 
views on this subject, but not practising exhortation on the 
Lord's-day forenoon. To that Church he has since ministered, 
attracting round him the respect and the love which are due to 
his consistent holiness of life, his devoted zeal, and his great sac- 
rifices for the sake of the Grospel, as well as to his ministerial 
faithfulness and amiable character. 

It may now seem almost unnecessary to have even referred to 
the complaints made against Mr. Haldane, but as they have been 
more or less publicly hinted at, in Mr. Orme's " Historical 
Sketch," published in 1819, it might seem as if there really had 
been some just ground for them, if in the Memoirs of his Life 



335 

they had not been glanced at and repudiated on evidence which 
is beyond all dispute. More recently, the Kev. Dr. Struthers, in 
a "History of the Relief Church/' has, from a deficiency of in- 
formation, in several instances been betrayed into grave errors, 
one of which is too glaring to be omitted. At page 405, he ob- 
serves : — 

" It is impossible to look at the extent and expensive nature of the apparatus 
which was set up, without perceiving that Mr. Haldane had involved himself in 
obligations which he would soon be unable to meet. ' I felt,' says he, ' the 
calls on me, from different quarters, increasing very fast.' This led him to take 
measures to diminish the expense of the seminaries, by offering Mr. Ewing 
100Z. annually, instead of 200Z. ; to be more sparing in the sums given from the 
Home Mission Fund, and to suggest that the Glasgow congregation should re- 
lieve him of the purchase money of the Circus, at 1000Z. less than it cost him." 

It may be observed, with reference to these statements, that 
they furnish a new instance of the little dependence that can be 
placed on what is often called history. Here is a statement ap- 
parently supported by extracts from Mr. Haldane's own writings, 
whereas, the historian has omitted to observe, that his authorities 
by no means support the weight of his precipitate conclusions. 
The quotations from Mr. Haldane's answer to Mr. Ewing refer to 
a period before the commencement of his greatest expenditure, 
when he was just beginning to discern the vastness of the field 
on which he had entered, and the necessity of economizing his 
gifts to individuals, in order to have more to bestow upon the 
masses. He commenced by securing to Mr. Ewing 200?. a year 
for the Tabernacle, and adding 200?. more for the seminary. 
But, as he increased the number of his seminaries, Mr. Haldane 
began to think that 300?. a-year was enough, and therefore pro- 
posed to reduce the allowance for the seminary, more especially 
as he had just given Mr. Ewing a further allowance of 100?. a- 
year for an assistant in the Tabernacle. In like manner the pro- 
posal that Mr. E wing's congregation should take the Glasgow 
Tabernacle, was not a measure of retrenchment, but an attempt 
to terminate all occasion of dispute, by a very handsome con- 
tribution of 1,000?., or, more strictly, 1,160?., to a plan, which 
would have gratified Mr. Ewing's desire, that he, with his large 
and wealthy congregation, should be independent of the private 
bounty of an individual. 

But, apart from these details, it is proper to observe, what can 
be proved to demonstration, that Mr. Haldane never involved 



336 OVEETUEES OF KECONCILIATION. 

himself, as Dr. Struthers supposes, " in obligations," either im- 
mediate or prospective, which he was not fully able to meet. The 
Tabernacles were all paid for, and free from debt to any one but 
himself, and in regard to those chapels on which he lent money, 
he generally paid off all the other creditors, as in the case of Perth, 
where he became sole proprietor ; and as in the case of Dum- 
fries, which had been built by himself and his brother, at the joint 
cost of nearly £2,000. It was the same with regard to the semi- 
nary. The " obligations" he undertook were not in perpetuity, 
but simply for a particular class of students, for one, two, or at 
most, three years. In fact, it never was and never could have 
been his intention, that a man of Mr. Haldane's income should 
have gone on giving away nearly £7,000 a-year. On the con- 
trary, he only designed to meet a great exigency, and to give the 
Home Mission a fair start. He always made his prospective cal- 
culations with the systematic minuteness of an official budget, and 
by different wills left to his brother ample funds to carry out 
every " obligation" into which he had himself ever entered, 
whether it related to the chapels, the African children, the semi- 
nary, or the Propagation Society. The sum varied according to 
circumstances, but at the period of which Dr. Struthers speaks, 
Mr. Haldane estimated that £12,000 would have amply fulfilled 
all his engagements. 

But although Dr. Struthers is so much mistaken on these points, 
yet the spirit which characterizes his work, is truly praiseworthy. 
His observations on the disruption are as follow : — 

" Though too many, no doubt, chuckled over this rupture, which, in a great 
measure, laid in ruins one of the noblest schemes which modern times have 
witnessed for diffusing religion, and evangelizing the population of the coun- 
try ; yet the good and the liberal of all parties, who rejoiced in the spread of 
religion, grieved over it, and could have wished it had been obviated." 

Happily in very few cases did these divisions interrupt the con- 
tinuance of the mutual friendship and esteem of the parties con- 
cerned. Even in that of Mr. Ewing, although the bitterness of 
his attacks might have seemed to render any advance on the part 
of Mr. Haldane impossible, terms of reconciliation were, year 
after year, proposed by the latter. Mr. Aikman, as a mujtual 
friend, was the mediator, but unhappily without success. Mr. 
Haldane desired a reconciliation on the ground of burying the 
past in oblivion, and assuming that there might have been faults 



LETTER FROM MONTAUBAN - . 337 

on both sides. Mr. Ewing, on the contrary, demanded an ac- 
knowledgment of error, and as if to render the acknowledgment 
impossible, also required the payment of a sum of money, "were 
it only a shilling," in token that the Glasgow Tabernacle had been 
unjustly reclaimed. Mr. Haldane's last attempt at reconciliation 
ought not to be omitted in a Memoir of his life, were it only as an 
illustration of his Christian principle, and of the depth of kindly 
feeling which was sometimes concealed under a manner that to 
strangers appeared rather stately and reserved. Indeed, when it 
is remembered how much there was in his composition of a spirit 
naturally lofty and unbending, the pathos with which he pleads 
for reconciliation, both on the ground of principle and of feeling, 
will appear all the more remarkable. The following letter was 
written at Montauban a few months before he left that field of 
useful labor. It is as follows : — 

" Montauban. 

" My dear Sir, — Having had the other night a pleasing dream respecting an 
interview which I thought I enjoyed with you, and which recalled all the tender- 
ness of affection I once had for you, I cannot let the feeling it excited pass 
without sending you these lines. Life is too short for such a prolonged conten- 
tion. A great portion of yours and mine has passed since the unseemly strife 
began. Peace be with you ! 

" I would not, however, desire to place so important a matter merely on the 
foundation of feeling, but it appears to me, considering the complication of cir- 
cumstances which were, and perhaps still are, viewed by us in different lights, 
and the long period that has elapsed since we met, that while to each of us 
there are strong grounds of searching of heart, all real or supposed offences 
may now be mutually set aside and give place to peace and cordial good-will. 
May He, who, I trust I may say, has loved us both, and washed us in his blood, 
subdue all our iniquities and cast our sins behind him into the depths of the 
sea ! Being at such a distance, it is uncertain if we shall ever meet on earth. 
May we enjoy a blessed eternity in his presence. 

" I am, my dear Sir, yours, 

" Robert Haldane." 

This letter was not sent from Montauban, but carried over to 
Scotland, and delivered, through Mr. Aikman, in 1821, to whom 
Mr. Haldane writes : " The feeling it expresses towards Mr. 
Ewing has long possessed my mind, and, I trust, will never be 
effaced." Mr. Ewing replied with courtesy, and even kindness, 
adhering to his refusal of a public reconciliation, and yet, with 
strange inconsistency, concludes: "Aid us with your prayers." 
Mr. Haldane replied in an elaborate letter to Mr. Aikman, stri- 
ving to prove, that although he could not conscientiously com- 

22 



338 seemox m maech, 1808. 

ply with the unreasonable demand to acknowledge himself to be 
in the wrong, whilst he believed himself to be right, yet that rec- 
onciliation was surely a duty. " If," he said, "we both expect 
to meet together in the presence of God and the Lamb, surely 
we ought to be able to live in peace and love in the presence of 
men." He began this letter by noticing, that " it was with no 
small emotion I once more saw a letter from Mr. Ewing addressed 
to me in the style of former affection and reciprocal regard, after 
so long an interruption of friendship.' ' And he concludes : " The 
time cannot now be very distant when reconciliation between us 
in this world will be in our power no more. May we not only 
enjoy together a blessed eternity in the presence of God, but be 
once more again united in the presence of men !" These efforts 
were in vain so far as concerned a public reconciliation, but it 
may be charitably concluded, from the tone of Mr. Ewing's reply 
to the Montauban letter, that all personal bitterness and animosity 
was at an end. 

There was another circumstance connected with the disruption 
which is worthy of record. It was the manner in which Mr. J. 
A. Haldane evinced his unchanging conviction of the infinitely 
superior importance of the Gospel itself as compared with any 
point of controversy in regard to its ordinances. The public ex- 
citement produced by the announcement of his change of senti- 
ment in regard to baptism, was proportioned to the notoriety of 
his character and his popularity as a preacher. He announced his 
intention of stating his reasons on the following Lord's-day, and 
the Tabernacle was crowded as when he preached with reference 
to Lord Camelford's duel, or more recently on the death of his 
venerable friend, John Newton. He observed many persons 
present, chiefly attracted by motives of curiosity, some of them 
men of station, others men of literature or science, professors, 
philosophers, and magistrates. It was not in his heart to allow a 
congregation of 4,000 souls to feed on the husks of a barren con- 
troversy about the meaning of §anxoi and fiamitco^ or yimo) ) or 
even about the proper objects of Christian baptism. Looking 
round, therefore, on the vast assemblage with a solemn and scru- 
tinizing glance, he pointedly asked, and paused as if for an an- 
swer to the question, what were the motives which had drawn 
them together ? "Was it," he inquired, " to hear a man who had 
changed his opinion? Ah! my friends, there is something of 
infinitely deeper importance, which concerns the present and 



CONGREGATIONAL UNION. 339 

eternal welfare of the immortal soul of" every one now present." 
Starting from this point, he pressed home upon them a sense of 
their lost and ruined state, and called on them to behold the 
Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. He then 
noticed the differences which subsisted between believers, and the 
stumbling-block which these differences proved to the world. It 
was, in fact, a sermon in which he found no opportunity to speak 
particularly of baptism, and he postponed his promised statement 
till the following Lord's-day. The effect was solemnizing and 
striking, and the sermon might have been sufficient in itself to 
have stayed the impending disruption. 

Such was not the will of God. The two brothers had been 
raised up as extraordinary instruments to effect an extraordinary 
work. They were not, however, ambitious to be the founders of 
a new sect, or the leaders of a new party. Much good service 
was still reserved for them, both at home and abroad, but it was 
not to be in reviving apostolic usages or primitive Church order. 
What would have been the history of Congregationalism in Scot- 
land, had no division taken place, it may be difficult to conjec- 
ture. But as its popularity was already on the wane, so it may 
be fairly surmised that its star had culminated, and that, even 
if Mr. Haldane's pecuniary support had been continued for some 
years longer, the results would have been far from realizing the 
sanguine expectations of those who have spoken of their "fling- 
ing away of Evangelical reform, which the prayerful in Scotland 
had hailed with rapture, and which both awed and improved the 
Kirk and the Secession." The work of Evangelical reform had 
indeed begun, but it was to be shared with other instruments, 
nor did it comport with the will of God, that the new party should 
rise on the ruins either of the Kirk or the Secession. 

In a very able and faithful review of the position and prospects 
of the Scottish Congregational Union at the end of fifty years, 
the Rev. W. Swan candidly admits, — 

" It is evident, from the history of our Churches, that they have never been 
popular, and the present aspect of things around them gives no indication of 
their rising in public favor. It is stated that these Churches numbered, in 1849, 
less than 100 in all, comprising a membership of between 8,000 and 9,000. 
During the first years of our history, Churches multiplied rapidly, but then it 
was because conversions were frequent, and the accessions to the Churches so 
planted were numerous." 

The disruption not only divided and diminished the Church, 



340 DR. CHARLES STUART. 

but shattered the great congregation in Edinburgh to which Mr. 
James Haldane was wont to preach, and probably reduced it to 
one third of its former average number. This must have been a 
subject of regret to him, but it was one to which he seldom allu- 
ded, and seemed not at all to feel as a personal mortification 
"lam the Lord's servant" was a striking expression of his, and 
whether he preached to thousands or to hundreds, seemed only 
to concern him so far as it afforded the opportunity of proclaim- 
ing the everlasting Gospel. To the love of popularity he was 
insensible, and considered any sacrifice made for this end to be 
derogatory to the profession of the Gospel and degrading to the 
character of a minister of Christ. 

In October, 1810, Dr. Charles Stuart, always in extremes of 
joy or depression, thus wrote to Mr. Campbell: " All here is 
dark indeed. I once thought, that if Mr. James Haldane was but 
convinced that none but disciples should be baptized, 1 should see 
the consummation of my earthly bliss ! But, alas ! this conviction 
has been attended with causes of misery, which have ever since 
broken my heart." Much pains had Dr. Stuart taken to incul- 
cate his own views on his friend. He had attended his ministry, 
listened to his preaching with rapt admiration, and called on him 
two or three times in every week to discuss the topics which were 
delivered from the pulpit. He had gone so far as to say he would 
sacrifice half his fortune to see Mr. James Haldane a Baptist. 
But much as he had contributed to force on the attention of his 
friend this and other subjects, his cultivated taste was not pre- 
pared for what he very justly stigmatized as " useless talk, under 
the name of exhortation, by persons quite unqualified." 

Dr. Stuart was, no doubt, in one of his gloomy frames when 
he thus wrote, and gravely added that the changes which he so 
much contributed to promote were "bringing some of us to' our 
graves." It was about this period, and very probably at the 
very date of the foregoing letter, that the good Doctor had been 
much mortified by an interview with the celebrated Henry 
Brougham, whom he met at his son's house in the country. 
The great orator and future Lord Chancellor, well knowing Dr. 
Stuart's connection both with Mr. Ewing and the Tabernacle, 
and probably not at all sorry to dwell on the divisions which had 
taken place, would only talk about Mr. Haldane's controversy 
with Mr. Ewing. He professed to have read the pamphlets with 
great interest, and particularly noticed the acuteness and argu- 



LETTER OF MR. J. A. HALDANE. 341 

mentative power of Mr. Haldane's reply. All this was gall and 
wormwood to Dr. Stuart, but his low spirits did not long con- 
tinue, for suddenly Dr. Chalmers shot like a brilliant meteor 
across the northern hemisphere, and that great man, — great in 
intellect as in Christian attainments, — together with Dr. Gordon, 
Dr. M'Eie, and other Presbyterian ministers, absorbed the sym- 
pathies and admiration which at one time Dr. Stuart seemed to 
have concentrated on Mr. James Haldane and the Tabernacle. 
Indeed, it is a circumstance not without instruction, that Dr. 
Stuart ended his career where it began, if not as a communicant, 
at least as a worshipper within the pale of the Church of Scot- 
land. Still it will be seen hereafter, that in his unabated regard 
for Dr. Stuart, there was another instance of the steadiness of 
Mr. James Haldane's friendships. 

There was for some years a lack in the Edinburgh Tabernacle, 
according to the views entertained of apostolic times, and that 
was a Presbytery, or plurality of elders, " in every Church." It 
was not easy to find one whom the Church in Edinburgh would 
permanently endure as a colleague for their pastor. At last the 
office was, in a manner, forced upon his brother, but with the 
express understanding that it should, in his case, be deemed only 
temporary and provisional till others were appointed. Many able 
discourses, particularly an Exposition of the Epistles of Peter, 
were delivered by him during the few years he thus officiated. 
After he went to the Continent another attempt was made to 
secure a Presbytery, or plurality of elders, for the Church, but it 
did not succeed, and furnished one of the grounds of the frank 
and candid admission made in 1821 by Mr. Haldane to his friend 
Dr. Bogue, that "the system did not work." What were Mr. 
James Haldane's sentiments on this subject might be seen from a 
letter written to his son on his going to reside in London. The 
following are extracts, which exhibit the simplicity of his aim, 
and his earnest desire, like Caleb of old, to follow the Lord wholly. 
After plainly stating that he had no wish to influence his son to 
unite himself to the communion of any of the Churches whose 
order resembled that observed in his own, he proceeds : — 

" There is something in the conduct of Divine Providence, in regard to the 
Churches, which I do not understand. I am sure all the Lord's ways are right, 
and it is our folly and ignorance which prevents us from seeing His wisdom and 
goodness in them all. I think it evident that the apostles were most jealous 
of any deviation from the ordinances delivered by them to the Churches, and 



342 3IR. HALD AXE'S SEXTIMEXTS. 

that they foretold that this would issue in the establishment of the Man of Sin. 
. . . I would wish you to be connected with that Church in which most of 
the religion of Jesus was exemplified, where the deepest impressions of the 
value of your soul, and the importance of eternity, the riches of the love of 
God, the freeness of His salvation, and the glory and beauty of holiness, should 
be maintained in your heart, where you would have fewest temptations to con- 
formity to this present evil world, and where the doctrine you heard was most 
scriptural and impressive. Perhaps you go too far about bigotry and illiberal- 
ity. These are terms which are bandied about among all sects, and not without 
reason. There is much party spirit among all. The Churchman really thinks 
the Dissenter a great bigot ; the Dissenter conscientiously returns the compli- 
ment. The Independent is impatient of the illiberality of the Baptist, and he 
is at a loss to reconcile the unfairness of the Independent's arguments with a 
good conscience. The liberality which chiefly prevails, I think, in England is 
most unscriptural. It is an idea that Scripture has laid down no rules for 
Church order, and that we are to do what appears to us most calculated for 
usefulness. If I adopted this sentiment, I should myself be much disposed to join 
the Established Church, for in many respects the field of usefulness there is 
greatest. But I see plainly that the order of a Church is not unimportant, and 
that, although at present there are many defects in all parties, we ought to love 
all who love the Lord Jesus Christ, and that our love to them ought to abound 
in proportion as we see the great features of the kingdom of God, righteous- 
ness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost abounding in them, and when these 
are observed it ought to enable us to throw a mantle of love over their defects. 
There is much more apology for what is commonly called bigotry in those who 
think they are obeying the Word of God. than when people are acting under the 
idea of expediency or usefulness. The former think they are obeying God, the 
latter are confessedly acting upon their own judgment. The former may think 
an opposite course dishonoring to God. but if the latter have not much forbear- 
ance, it must arise, in a great degree, from self-will and dissatisfaction that 
others will not agree with them. May the Lord look on his Church on earth! 
Its state is very low, and He alone can send times of refreshing. . . . 

u May the Lord Himself abundantly bless you, and guard you from every 
danger, and preserve you to His kingdom, is the prayer of yours, most affec- 
tionately. J. A. H." 

Other letters of a similar purport might be produced, teaching 
the same important lesson, and proving how" little there was of 
bigotry in his views, how his heart glowed with love to all the 
Lord's people, whilst, at the same time, he held fast by what he 
believed to be the will of his Master, without looking to conse- 
quences or regarding the opinions of men. His brother, on his 
death-bed, spoke more strongly on this subject. He said, that he 
perceived no flaw in his principles, but had come to the conclu- 
sion, that the Church was in the wilderness, and that it was vain 
to go before the leadings of Providence or hasten the time when 
the Lord himself should appear for its deliverance. He added, 



MR. HALD AXE'S SEXTIMEXTS. 343 

that lie saw that the Lord had always blessed the preaching of 
the true doctrines of the Gospel in sincerity and truth ; that this 
blessing had sometimes rested on one denomination and sometimes 
on another : but that, whilst an endeavor to restore apostolic order 
had failed, a blessing had never failed to attend the faithful preach- 
ing of sound doctrine. 

It must not be forgotten, that, from first to last, both of the 
brothers adhered firmly to a belief in the communion of saints, 
of whatever denomination they may be in this imperfect world. 
In every public prayer Mr. J. Haldane uniformly offered up inter- 
cession for all the people of God upon earth, " by whatever name 
they are known amongst men ;" and he never allowed the ques- 
tion of baptism to become a term of communion. His brother's 
views were the same. " It appears to me," he says, in a letter, 
dated August 1, 1810, "that the following may be laid down as 
a principle, that there is nothing in the New Testament which 
authorizes us either to do anything that God has forbidden, or to 
neglect anything that he has commanded, for the sake of main- 
taining fellowship with others. But the maintenance of this prin- 
ciple does not prevent our acting with others whom we believe to 
be Christians on the things on which we are agreed. It appears to 
me, that the whole of the New Testament proceeds upon this 
principle, and enforces it. Our fellowship is with the Father and 
the Son, and must be maintained by constant obedience on our 
part, and application to the blood of sprinkling when we come 
short. Our fellowship with each other arises out of this fellow- 
ship, and can only be maintained so far as fellowship with God 
is maintained. We are never to attempt to maintain Christian 
fellowship with each other at the expense of fellowship with 
God." 

Mr. J. A. Haldane's efforts to promote union amongst believ- 
ers — union without compromise, — were not discouraged by their 
ill-success at the time when even Mr. Aikman could not forbear 
with those who denied the validity of infant baptism. Three 
years later he published, in 1811, a treatise on the duty of forbear- 
ance. It was answered by Mr. William Jones, the pastor of a 
strict communion Baptist Church, in London, author of the "His- 
tory of the Waldenses," and a writer of considerable talent, but 
much asperity. Mr. Jones considered Mr. James Haldane's argu- 
ment as covertly levelled at the Scotch Baptists, with whom Mr. 
Jones was associated ; and, at almost the same moment, one of 



344 ME. HALDANE'S SENTIMENTS. 

Mr. Haldane's late students, an Independent pastor, of Mr. Ew- 
ing's class, wrote another pamphlet, to show that the real object 
was to subvert the Congregational preachers. In 1812 Mr. James 
Haldane replied, in a pamphlet, which is a model of good spirit. 
Unmoved by the ill-humor of the strict communion Baptist, or 
the doleful imaginings of the Independent, he, in the first place, 
mildly remonstrates against the evils of controversial irritation, 
and the mistaken supposition that harsh, contemptuous, or sarcas- 
tic language, is calculated to promote the cause of Christ. He 
then alludes to the supposition that he was " haunted by the idea 
of these preachers day and night;" but, with much good-humor, 
assures both his assailants that they are mistaken. "lam fully 
satisfied," he says, "that, in so far as either the Psedo-baptist 
preachers, or the Churches to which Mr. Jones refers, oppose the 
will of God, their system will come to naught ; and, in so far as 
they do his will, I heartily wish the prosperity of both." He 
adds, that he had referred, not to Churches, or individuals, but to 
principles, in his previous treatise. "But, if I had any Churches 
particularly in view, it was those which bear the name of Mr. 
Glas, because I believe they carry the principle of non-forbear- 
ance further than any other." To many of the principles of Glas 
and Sandeman, and especially to their bitter intolerant spirit, it 
has been already stated, that both the brothers were at all times 
strongly opposed. There were, indeed, some parts of their wri- 
tings which were regarded as exhibiting noble views of the free- 
ness of the Gospel and the simplicity of faith, but, as a whole, 
the Glasite, or Sandemanian system, was most abhorrent to their 
principles and feelings. On one occasion Mr. Haldane was speak- 
ing on this subject whilst walking by the side of one of his plan- 
tations on the undrained moss at Auchingray. He stopped and 
pointed to the slow and stunted growth of these young trees, as 
contrasted with the rapid growth of those which had been planted 
on a prepared soil, and said, with a smile, " There is a picture of 
Sandemanianism. There is life, but its expansive powers are con- 
tracted and dwarfed." 

On the subject of faith it may be mentioned, that one of the 
most useful and valuable of Mr. J. A. Haldane's practical works 
is a treatise on the " Doctrine and Duty of Self-Examination." It 
contains the substance of two sermons preached in 1806. A new 
edition was published in 1823. Both the brothers have remarked, 



MR. HALDANE'S SENTIMENTS. 345 

with, regard to faith, that trust, or confidence, in Christ, seemed 
substantially to express the meaning of the term. It was the dy- 
ing declaration of their father, — " I have full confidence in Jesus;" 
and they both adopted the terms as their own definition of faith. 
Tt is at once simple and comprehensive. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

[1810—1819.] 

Fkom the time when Mr. Haldane first planned his mission to 
India down to the summer of 1810, the variety and extent of his 
occupations were such as to render it surprising that he had been 
able to devote so much of his time to private reading and study. 
After he left Airthrey, in 1798, and embarked in plans for propa- 
gating the Gospel at home, he had been employed in widely cir- 
culating Bibles and tracts, in establishing Sabbath-schools, build- 
ing chapels, and sending out home missionaries, as well as in 
superintending the education of young men as preachers, cate- 
chists, and Scripture-readers. All this was done under his own 
superintendence and at his own expense, so that, in fact, there 
is hardly an object to which he at first devoted his individual 
energies for which there has not since been established a special 
Society. 

In the midst of all these engagements there was much to dis- 
tract, and there can be no doubt that an interval of leisure was 
desirable for calm repose and quiet meditation. This interval 
seemed to be graciously vouchsafed ; whilst his labors on the Con- 
tinent, as well as his after-writings, indicate how wisely he spent 
the comparative leisure which intervened between the close of his 
earlier labors and his first visit to Geneva in 1816. 

Towards the end of 1809 he bought the estate of Auchingray, 
in Lanarkshire, on which he soon afterwards erected a comfort- 
able and spacious residence. Amongst those who watched his 
career with an unfriendly eye were some who criticized his con- 
duct in retiring to the country, as if it were inconsistent with the 
motives which influenced him in the sale of Airthrey. But such 
critics usually seize upon points that seem open to their censure, 
without taking a view of all the circumstances. There was a 



AUCHINGRAY. 347 

great difference between occupying a place like Auehingray and 
one like Airthrey. The original cost of Auehingray amounted to 
a very inconsiderable portion of the price of Airthrey. Some 
farms adjoining Airthrey had been reserved by Mr. Haldane out 
of the original contract of sale, but these, too, were disposed of 
before the new purchase. The manner in which he acted in re- 
gard to the last sale, was often mentioned by Sir Kobert Aber- 
cromby as stamping Mr. Haldane's character as a gentleman. 
The farms unsold were much more valuable to Sir Robert, as the 
owner of Airthrey Castle, than to any one else. It would, there- 
fore, have been easy to have extracted a considerably larger price, 
to prevent annoyance, had this element of value been brought 
into the calculation. But Mr. Haldane declined taking advantage 
of this circumstance, and having obtained an estimate from his 
land-surveyor, Mr. Morison, he sent the result to Sir Robert, 
offering the farms at the price there named, which was £30,000. 
A proposal so liberal was at once gladly accepted, and these lands 
became reunited with Airthrey. 

It was after the sale of these lands and of the estates of Loch- 
ton and Keithock, that Mr. Haldane purchased Auehingray. 
Some country residence was necessary for the purposes of health, 
retirement, and recreation. For himself and Mrs. Haldane, the 
selection proved both agreeable and convenient, although the 
place was not adapted to persons dependent on society. At a 
comparatively small cost he obtained a large tract of land. Its 
wildness pleased his taste, and its improvement furnished an 
agreeable refreshment to his energetic spirit. A great part of 
Auehingray was then a moor, lying on the bleak summit level 
between Edinburgh and Glasgow. His plans for draining, and, 
in some instances, cutting away the moss, were conducted with 
equal skill and enterprise. He covered several hundreds of acres 
with larch, firs, birch, ash and coppice. As he had been one of 
the first to transplant full-grown trees at Airthrey, so at Auehin- 
gray, he was one of the first to attempt planting on the moss. 
On an estate consisting of upwards of 2,000 British acres, there 
was but one solitary tree, a weather-battered ash, which stood be- 
side the door of the farm-house in which the Principal of the 
University of Glasgow, Dr. Macfarlane, was born. Mr. Haldane 
found the greater part a barren wilderness. He left it a waving 
forest, studded with slated cottages and new farm-homesteads, an 
ornament to the surrounding country, the improvement of which, 



348 PLANS FOR THE CONTINENT. 

by drainage and the application of lime, had been stimulated by 
his example. The grounds and farm-buildings were laid out and 
planned chiefly by himself, sometimes aided by his old friend, 
Mr. Morison, of Alloa, with whom he had arranged most of the 
improvements at Airthrey. The walks through the plantations 
were also made with so much science that a stranger might lose 
himself amidst winding foliage, where, formerly, there was nothing 
to interrupt the sweep of the north-eastern blast from the estuary 
of the Forth to the estuary of the Clyde. 

But these pursuits were merely the pleasant relaxation of a 
mind at peace with Grod and able to enjoy the temporal bounties 
of His providence, in consistency with the pursuit of far higher 
objects. His establishment was but little increased, whether he 
lived at Edinburgh or Auchingray. He kept only one riding- 
horse, and no carriage. Whenever it was necessary, a post-chaise 
was ordered from the inn at West Craigs ; and, whilst he main- 
tained an abundant hospitality, nothing was sacrificed to orna- 
ment or show. To live in this quiet, unostentatious way, at 
Auchingray, was something very different from occupying Air- 
threy and keeping up its park, its ornamental woods, and walks, 
and pleasure-grounds. The following letter will show how little 
his new occupations at Auchingray diverted his thoughts from 
the great missionary works he had in view when he parted with 
Airthrey. It is addressed to Mr. Campbell, and dated 25th De- 
cember, 1810 : — 

" I now trouble you with this, to ask you if there be any translation of the 
Scriptures which you think would be useful and is not likely to be carried into 
effect by the secretaries in London ; or if you have any opportunity of an en- 
larged distribution of the Scriptures which you are not able at present to em- 
brace ? I should be glad to consider anything of this kind that you should rec- 
ommend. In giving, perhaps, considerable assistance to such objects, I would 
wish to do it in such a way as would be an addition to what is at present going 
on. Do you know if anything in this way could be done on the Continent ? 
Can anything more be done for Spain and Portugal, &c. ? I suppose nothing 
could be attempted as to France, — or would it be possible to send over more 
copies of the Bible to that country ? When convenient, I shall be happy to 
hear from you on the subject ; and, as I am writing to other places, I should be 
glad that it were soon. All your friends here are well." 

For two summers after he purchased Auchingray, he occupied 
the house of Hillend, belonging to the Monkland Canal Company, 
situated at the eastern extremity of the great reservoir, — a sheet 
of water extending along the high road, two miles in length, in 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 349 

front of Auchingray, and said to be the largest artificial lake in 
the world. The capabilities of ornament connected with this 
beautiful lake, no doubt, constituted one of Mr. Haldane's chief 
inducements to select Auchingray as a place of residence. After 
the house was finished, it was his usual retreat during those months 
which he spent away from Edinburgh. On the Lord's-day he 
was for several years in the habit of going to Airdrie, where there 
was a Church formed on the model of that with which he was 
connected in Edinburgh. He generally himself delivered an ex- 
position, in the forenoon, of some part of Scripture, which was 
always carefully studied, and full of useful practical instruction 
and profound theology. In the offices at a little distance from 
the house, he had a chapel fitted up, where Mr. James Haldane 
used to preach two or three times a-week when he visited his 
brother, and where he himself, after his return from the Continent, 
usually conducted public worship every Lord's-day. On the 
week-days, after the family worship and breakfast at nine o'clock, 
he generally remained in his own room, with his door bolted, de- 
clining to be disturbed till one or two o'clock, studying the Scrip- 
tures and other books, or writing. In the evenings he generally 
was occupied with lighter reading, including the newspapers, the 
periodical publications, and new books of useful information. He 
was also at this time preparing his work on the Evidences and 
Authority of Divine Eevelation, the first edition of which he 
published in 1816, and contained the fruit of his early and labori- 
ous inquiries. 

His motive for writing that book was his own dissatisfaction 
with most of the works which professed to exhibit the evidences 
of Christianity. Looking along the whole line of the most popu- 
lar defenders of its historical truth, it was too manifest that the 
most eloquent and argumentative had not always been the most 
evangelical of its apologists. "Warburton, Paley, Lardner, and 
Watson were great names, but of which of these distinguished 
writers could it be said with confidence, that he received the Gos- 
pel in its native power and simplicity ? Bishop Warburton was 
a giant in learning, but his views of the Mosaic economy were 
sufficient to indicate his unsoundness. Archdeacon Paley, in his 
latest days, is said to have been greatly changed for the better ; 
but speaking of him as a writer on Christianity, his principles ex- 
hibit a man groping in the dark, whilst his system of morals falls 
below the standard of a virtuous Pagan. Dr. Lardner was an 



350 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 

Arian, disbelieving the Deity and atonement of Christ; whilst 
Bishop Watson's own sentiments were as heterodox as his charac- 
teristic worldliness was inconsistent with his apostolic office. The 
works of such writers, although admirable in composition, unan- 
swerable in argument, or valuable as a mine of information, be- 
tray in every page the absence of vital acquaintance with those 
truths, whose outward strength and glory they profess to establish. 
It appeared also to Mr. Haldane that these, and such like books 
of evidences, were generally addressed to Infidels, and assumed 
the possibility that Christianity might prove a fable. On the 
contrary, he believed that the proofs of Christianity could only 
be properly set forth by those of whom it may be said, that the 
eyes of their understanding have been enlightened to know the 
exceeding riches of the grace of God in Jesus Christ ; and further, 
that the evidences of the truth of Eevelation ought to be peculiar- 
ly studied by disciples, not because they doubt, but because they 
desire to know more of the certainty of those things, which they 
most surely believe. 

The work was considerably enlarged and improved at a much 
later period of his life. The first edition, although less complete, 
contained a body of conclusive evidence in favor of Christianity, 
written by a powerful reasoner, who had himself doubted, and 
profoundly fathomed the subject, whilst it was also an admirable 
exposition of the Gospel of salvation. One of his reviewers just- 
ly points out the singular skill and adroitness, with which he in- 
volves the antagonists of Christianity in the most awkward en- 
tanglement of self-contradiction. Out of the insinuations of 
Gibbon and the subtleties of David Hume, which he had scanned 
with an eye that pierced through all their sophistry, he elicits, by 
a masterly examination, a conclusive answer of their own objec- 
tions. He strips them of their boasted claims to candor and 
philosophy, reduces them to that most humiliating of all discom- 
fitures, self-refutation, and shows triumphantly not only the weak- 
ness, but the malice of their aggression. From his youth up, he 
excelled as a reasoner in the Socratic method ; and it will be found 
that at Geneva and Montauban it was by the same process that 
he was enabled, most successfully to convince inquirers of the 
hollowness of their anti-scriptural doctrines. The concluding 
chapter, addressed to the various classes who hear the Gospel, 
was described by the same reviewer as " an impressive compen- 



LETTER OF MR. HARBCASTLE.. 351 

dium of glorious and awful truths, forcibly, and sometimes elo- 
quently, written." 

Before he left this country for the Continent, Mr. Haldane re- 
ceived many tokens of the estimation in which his work was held, 
and especially from some of those old friends with whom he first 
set out in his plans for propagating the Gospel. The two follow- 
ing letters are amongst the few which he deemed peculiarly 
worthy of preservation. The first is from Joseph Hardcastle, 
Esq., the Treasurer of the London Missionary Society, with whom 
he had taken so much counsel in connection with his Mission to 
India, the education of the African children, and the establish- 
ment of a Village Itinerancy Society in London. It was in a suite 
of rooms connected with Mr. Hardcastle's counting-house, as a 
Kussia merchant, that most of the religious Societies established 
at the end of the last century were instituted, and for several 
years carried on. There the London Missionary Society, the Re- 
ligious Tract Society, the Hibernian Society, and the Village 
Itinerancy Society, were long conducted at Mr. Hardcastle's ex- 
pense. There, too, the British and Foreign Bible Society held 
its first meetings. 

" Hatcham House, October 2, 1816. 

" My dear Sir, — Your important and very valuable publication on the ' Evi- 
dence and Authority of Divine Revelation,' was sent to me about a fortnight 
ago, and I received it with much pleasure, as an acceptable token from a friend 
whom I have not had the satisfaction of seeing for many years, but for whom I 
have not ceased to retain an affectionate remembrance. 

" But although I felt the obligation due to your kindness, yet I thought it 
best to delay my acknowledgments till I had perused the work, which I have 
now done, and I can say, with the greatest sincerity, that it has afforded me 
very much pleasure, and I hope improvement also. I regard it as a work of 
great importance, admirably adapted for much usefulness, and I hope the bless- 
ing of God will accompany its perusal, and fulfil your wish in rendering it the 
occasion of promoting His glory, the honor of His word, and of that glorious 
Messiah, to whose person, offices, and salvation it bears, through all its parts, 
so full and complete a testimony. 

" With what satisfaction and thankfulness must we contemplate the aspect 
of the times in which we live, and especially the operations and success of our 
Bible and Missionary Institutions. I have lately read over the last Report of 
both Societies, and am induced to think that we are witnessing the effects of a 
remarkable effusion of the influences of the Holy Spirit, and that we are prob- 
ably discerning the dawn of that bright day which is predicted to shed Divine 
light on all the nations of the earth. 

" An energy seems to pervade the Christian world, unknown for several pre- 
ceding ages ; and a generation appears springing up, who are likely to follow 
up with increased zeal the measures of their predecessors. 



352 LETTEE OF EEV. KOWLAND HILL. 

" I consider myself as standing on the verge of the eternal world, and the 
decays of nature frequently admonish me that the time of my departure cannot 
be very remote. But I am cheered sometimes with the contrast which tlje pres- 
ent state of things exhibits, compared with that which existed when I first be- 
came acquainted with society ; and I am thankful to God for the privilege I have 
enjoyed of associating with so many excellent friends, who have been made in- 
strumental in producing results so beneficial and so extensive. 

" All my family unite in the desire of being kindly remembered by yourself 
and Mrs. Haldane, and by your brother and sister, whose interviews occasion- 
ally at our house afforded the greatest pleasure, the recollection of which is 
cherished in all our minds. Believe me, my dear Sir, 

" Respectfully and affectionately, 

" Robert Haldane, Esq. " Joseph Hardcastle." 

The second letter is from his venerable friend, Eowland Hill, 
whose attachment remained unshaken by the changes that had 
taken place : — ; 

" My dear Sir, — I feel much ashamed that I have not before now sent my 
very affectionate acknowledgment of your present of your volumes on the 
Evidences of Revelation ; but I first read them over attentively myself, and 
then lent them to others, before 1 ventured to pass my estimate on them ; and 
however feeble my testimony may be, and highly worthy as your work may be 
of approbation of superior minds, yet a better compilation of the evidences of 
Christianity, because so perspicuous and so easy to be understood, to the best 
of my recollection I never read before. 

" You have done, dear Sir, not only, I trust, the most essential service to 
the general cause of Christianity in what you have written, but also to the spirit 
and temper of the Gospel, by wisely dropping all those inferior differences that 
are of no essential importance when compared to the cause itself. 

" Yes, dear Sir, and the older we get, and the riper we grow in the Divine 
life, the less we shall regard matters that are disputations and non-essential, 
because not so much the positive subject of Divine revelation, and consequently 
the cause of minor differences among those who are the happy recipients of 
the same grace, and partakers of a Divine union with the same spiritual Head. 
And in this I desire to express my thankfulness before God for the concluding 
pages of your volumes. 

" While some have vindicated Christianity as a mere nominal religion, you 
have not only pleaded for the Temple of Truth, but shown that God himself 
is to be the inhabitant of His own temple, and that men are to be unspeakably 
blessed in Him. 

" On a subject similar to this, I cannot express what high satisfaction and 
delight my mind has received in perusing a recent publication by Dr. Mason, of 
New York. As it is sold in Edinburgh, I should suppose it has attracted your 
attention. 

" If all the world were of his opinion, what a peaceable, united Church 
would be exhibited on earth, and what a strong argument against the sacred 
cause of Christianity would its enemies lose, if all manifested it by being 



"EDINBURGH CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTOR." 353 

possessed of the same delightful mind which is so evident through the whole 
of that invaluable publication ! — Believe me to be, dear Sir, 

" Most faithfully and respectfully yours, 

" Rowland Hill." 

There was a review of " The Evidences" which appeared in 
the " Edinburgh Christian Instructor," in 1820, from the pen of 
the celebrated Dr. Andrew Thomson, before Mr. Haldane was 
personally known to that great champion of the Bible and of the 
Church of Scotland. The review was written with somewhat of 
that vivacity which was characteristic of the author, but which 
for a religious periodical, seemed to border too closely on the flip- 
pant gaiety of the early numbers of the " Edinburgh Review." 
Dr. Thomson bestowed considerable praise on the excellences of 
the book, but dropped some good-humored jokes about "lay 
preaching," and warned the author that he could not expect to 
gather many " laurels of triumph," or much of " popular acclaim," 
on a field which had been already traversed by so many " cham- 
pions of renown." There was nothing in the review to cause an- 
noyance, although the article was in the style of one who adhered 
closely to the Presbyterian Church, and was n<^ without suspicion 
of those connected with any other denervation. It was not, 
therefore, from any feeling of resentment awards his future friend 
and coadjutor in defence of the integrity of tn e Bible that Mr. 
Haldane on this occasion addressee"! a letter to Dr. Thomson. It 
was rather from a desire to draw a mention to the danger connected 
with books of evidence written by men who had not themselves 
a living belief in the Gospel The celebrity both of Dr. Andrew 
Thomson and of his magaz^e, seemed to present a favorable oppor- 
tunity for interesting t^ public mind on the very subject which 
had induced Mr. Fxldane to write a book of evidences. The 
publication of his pamphlet, entitled, "A Letter to the Editor of the 
Christian Instn^or" was, however, an instance of his fearless 
nature, for D- Thomson was then in the vigor of his colossal fac- 
ulties, aiuU'n the full blaze of his great popularity. It may well 
be doubled whether it was worth while to reclaim against the 
judgm-nt of the review with regard to Warburton, Paley, Watson, 
and Campbell, as people were sure to imagine that the remon- 
strance was, at least in some measure, dictated by personal dissatis- 
faction with Dr. Thomson's criticisms. But whether this was the 
case or not, the Letter was a powerful exposure of the unfitness 
of those great " champions of renown," in whose hands, for the 



354 ME. J. A. HALDANE»S LABOKS. 

most part, the defence of Christianity had been left, and it con- 
tained a forcible remonstrance against the lawfulness of seeking 
for "laurels of triumph" in any work connected with the Gospel. 
The concluding passage is characteristic of Mr. Haldane. He 
tells Dr. Thomson that he was the more anxious to deliver this 
warning, because, although "I have not the pleasure of being 
personally acquainted with the Editor of the i Christian Instructor,' 
I have had the satisfaction of hearing what is calculated to pro- 
duce respect for him." The passage thus concludes, — 

" Dismiss, then, your 'champions of renown,' your 'popular acclaim,' your 
' laurels of triumph.' Give them back to him who has such base and unworthy 
considerations ever at hand, to dazzle and seduce his votaries to their ruin. Ex- 
pressions like these become not so sacred a subject. We are all too prone to 
pursue ' lying vanities.'' But shall we for a moment allowedly entertain such 
ideas? Shall a Christian Instructor gravely hold them up as objects of am- 
bition, or *nds of legitimate pursuit ? If it be not a ' desire to be useful' that 
prompts us v> whatever we do in the service of the Gospel, we had better em- 
ploy our time a^d our labor in any other way, than in acting upon principles 
which debase its nature, and divert from its proper object all its tendencies." 

Meanwhile nothing had occurred to damp Mr. James Haldane's 
zeal for the propagation of the Gospel. In some respects his labors 
were increased, because he had less assistance at command ; but 
he was no longer able to n^ke w ide tours, occupying two, three, 
or four months in duration. Since 1799, and the formation of 
the Circus Church, Mr. Aikm^ had, for the most part, ceased 
from his labors as an itinerant in t^ e summer months. Mr. Eate 
' was now quietly and usefully settled v S minister of a Presbyterian 
Church at Alnwick. Mr. Innes couR seldom absent himself 
from his own duties at Dundee, or Mr. ~5] w ing from Glasgow. 
Mr. Campbell was removed to Kingsland, an d, although Mr. 
James Haldane was the last to quit the field, vhich he was the 
first to enter, yet he too began to experience the 'increasing diffi- 
culties connected with a prolonged absence from hoi* e , and from 
the Church of which he was still the sole pastor. The necessity, 
too, had become less urgent, and the Gospel was now flourishing 
in districts where it had been almost unheard of by the present 
generation. Under these circumstances, home duties having in- 
creased, he felt himself less called upon to continue his missionarj 
tours. 

During the summers of 1808 and 1809, he was particularly 
zealous in preaching, sometimes on the Calton Hill, sometimes 



PORTOBELLO. 355 

under a rock, near St. Anthony's "Well, in the King's Park ; 
sometimes on Bruntsfield Links, and, at other times, at Newhaven, 
Leith, Portobello, Musselburgh, Dalkeith, Lasswade, and other 
places, either in the open air, or under shelter, as the weather, 
the audience, or convenience dictated. 

In 1809, he was also much occupied with the formation of the 
Edinburgh Bible Society, of which he was always an active mem- 
ber, and afterwards became a Yice-President. 

The village of Portobello, to which he was frequently accus- 
tomed to resort, with his family, during the summer months, was 
the scene of many of his occasional labors, for a period of no less 
than half a century. The following letter, referring to his preach- 
ing there, is from the daughter of a well-known magistrate of 
Edinburgh, the late Baillie Jamieson, whose name is associated 
with the rise of that favorite and now populous marine appendage 
to Edinburgh : — 

" Summerfisld, March 22d, 1851. 

"Dear Miss Haldane, — I have read with the deepest interest the little sketch 
of the life and labors of your venerated father, which you haa the goodness to 
send me, and have been reminded vividly of many circumstances in his history, 
which, long ago, I had often the happiness to hear fror* his own lips. Few, 
comparatively, are now alive, who remember your de^ 4 father, in the full force 
of his early zeal and success, who witnessed the crowds that then attended his 
preaching, or who had the privilege of enjoying Ms friendship and conversation. 
To me, who was so favored, the details of UV sketch are peculiarly interesting, 
and I am glad to understand, that a narrative, still more extended, is in contem- 
plation, which, I have no doubt, will, by tne blessing of God, be most useful to 
many inquirers. Wili you allow me to suggest, that, in the event of a more 
complete memoir being published, ^ome notice should be taken of Mr. Hal- 
dane's ardent, affectionate labors at my native village, Portobello, where, for a 
series of years, his efforts for tbe spiritual good of the people, by preaching and 
private ministration, were unwearied and highly appreciated. The more so, 
perhaps, that, at the outset, he had to contend with certain prejudices, which 
the enemies of pure, evangelical preaching had created in the minds of some 
of the friends of the Government, by insinuating that he was inimical to the 
1 Powers that be,' and that he did not even pray for the King, or the minister 
of the parish ! 

" The oldest proprietor at Portobello, on whose lands most of the village was 
then built, who had many of the common people in his employment, and enjoyed 
their implicit confidence, had heard these rumors. He was a zealous supporter 
of the Government, and he was advised by certain parties about Edinburgh 
that, in their unsettled state of political feeling, he should use any influence he 
had, to suppress Mr. Haldane's efforts, as calculated, they said, to set the minds 
of the people adrift, and to unhinge the institutions of the country. It was 
reported that Mr. Haldane was, on a certain day, to preach near the high road, 



356 POETOBELLO. 

and the proprietor referred to appeared on that occasion among the numerous 
audience collected around him, and of whom many had come from Dudding- 
stone, and other neighboring districts. 

"His purpose (agreeably to the information he had received) was to remon- 
strate, at least, with the people under his own care, or even, if necessary, to 
exert his authority as a justice of the peace in dispersing them. He had not 
listened, however, but a few minutes to the fervent discourse which was then 
being delivered, so suitable to the circumstances of the audience, before he saw 
that he had been misinformed and mistaken ; and with that contrition which 
honest minds feel when they perceive they are about to act unjustly, my father 
at once confessed his error. Fortunately, the falling of a heavy shower afforded 
him an opportunity of requesting Mr. Haldane and his congregation to adjourn 
to a large barn, which had been lately furnished with coarse benches, and where 
the minister of the parish occasionally met his people. The offer was cheer- 
fully accepted, and the services of the evening were peacefully concluded. 
Thus began, my dear Miss Haldane, an acquaintance, which I still look upon, 
as one of the happiest circumstances of my life. In the same place Mr. Hal- 
dane continued Ms labors on many a winter as well as summer evening for 
years, sometimes alternating afterwards with Mr. Ewing or Mr. Aikman, and 
having frequently for his auditor the amiable and pious Mr. Bennet, then min- 
ister of Duddingstone, wh<a felt delighted to encourage, by his presence and 
example, any enVt which wa&, likely to arouse, or quicken the piety of his peo- 
ple. Your excelled father resided with his family in the village for several 
seasons, when, in addition to his exertions in the pulpit, by Christian counsel 
and advice he was the cieans of awakening and comforting many an afflicted 
mind. In my own case, 1 owe much to Mr. Haldane. He was fully alive, I 
think, to the gratitude I fell to him, for early leading my attention to those 
views which, he told me, could tj ne give peace to the conscience, and which, 
n my declining age, I find now my chief solace. You will forgive me, there- 
ore, for the wish I have expressed, U see in the record of his life some notice 
»f his devoted labors in a sphere to Yihich I once felt much attached. Since 
the time I speak of, what was a mere village has grown into a sizable town ; 
the population, I dare say, more than quadrupled, and a number of churches 
have been built. I question, how T ever, if more real good is now effected than 
when Mr. Haldane labored unostentatiously by himself, in the way of private 
ministration, or when, on the summer evenings, his warm and thrilling appeals 
to the heart and conscience were listened to by a deeply-impressed audience, in 
the old barn at Portobello." 

There is a postscript to Mrs. Eobertson's letter, which recalls Mr, 
James Haldane's intimacy, when at sea, with one who was in early- 
life a kindred spirit, the late gallant Admiral Sir David Milne, 
whose achievements in the navy, and especially as second to Lord 
Exmouth at Algiers, have rendered his name justly celebrated. 
The other gentleman alluded to, sailed in the same ship with Mr. 
James Haldane : — 

"On reading over the above, incidents occur to my mind. connected with your 



SCENE AT NORTH BERWICK. 357 

dear father, during the time of his valuable labors at Portobello. His old friends 
and shipmates, Admiral Sir David Milne and Mr. Chalmers, had just returned 
from abroad, and hearing of Mr. Haldane's fame as a preacher of the Gospel, 
expressed a desire again to meet with him. This they soon did in my fathers 
house, and heard from himself how the change in his views and habits had been 
brought about. He did not hesitate to state, with his usual firmness, simplicity, 
and candor, the circumstances which had led to the unlooked-for change. The 
detail was interesting, and the evening passed most happily, with interchange 
of kind feelings towards each other; for, although differing, alas! from Mr. 
Haldane on spiritual subjects, the gallant Admiral and his friend found that the 
manly worth and affection which had always distinguished their old acquaintance, 
were in nothing impaired." 

Long afterwards, Mr. J. A. Haldane, in a letter, dated May 10, 
1845, notices the sudden death of Sir David Milne, in the steamer 
on his way to Scotland, and observes : " Many years ago we were 
at Bombay. He was second mate of the General Elliot, and I of 
the Montrose. He was five years older, but we were then rather 
intimate friends. When we got home, war had broken out, and 
as he had previously passed as lieutenant, he joined the Boyne 
under Sir John Jervis." * 

In connection with Mr. J. Haldane's preaching in the neighbor 
hood of Edinburgh, there is another incident, which belongs tc 
an early date. It relates to an excursion which he made to North 
Berwick, as it is believed, in 1798. He had announced the in- 
tended sermon in the usual manner, and had begun to preach one 
summer's evening not far from the shore of that beautiful bay, 
stretching nearly twenty miles along the coast, at one extremity 
of which the Bass Rock and North Berwick Law rise, as from the 
ocean, to confront the ancient Castle of Edinburgh and the majes- 
tic rocks of Arthur's Seat. At that period the convivial habits 
of East Lothian were notorious, even in an age when Scottish 
hospitality had become stained with the vices of riotous excess. 
There were many of the East Lothian squires who drank so hard 
and so habitually, that it is said by those who knew them well, 
that they never went to bed sober. It happened that the officers 
of the East Lothian yeomanry, and certain justices of the peace, 

*In the action between the Blanche and a French frigate in 1795, the gallant 
Captain Faulkner was shot through the heart, just as Lieut. Milne and himself had 
fastened with their own hands the enemy's bowsprit to the capstan of the Blanche. 
The boats of the latter being all destroyed, Lieut. Milne, with ten men, swam to 
the Pique, and hoisted the British flag on board the captured frigate. " For his 
consummate intrepidity" in this desperate action, Lieut. Milne was promoted, and 
from that time his career became conspicuous in the annals of the British navy. 



£>5S SCENE AT NORTH BERWICK. 

including one who long sat in Parliament for the county, were 
dining with the Provost and magistrates of North Berwick. Ac- 
cording to the wretched habits of the times, they were already 
deep in their potations, when they were informed that Mr. J. Hal- 
dane was preaching in their immediate vicinity to the assembled 
people of North Berwick. The sound of the Gospel had no 
charms for them, nor were they willing that others should hear 
it. Already heated with wine, they began to consult in what way 
they should put down this missionary invasion of their own terri- 
tories. One of them, more reckless than the rest, said that it 
would be a capital plan to seize on the preacher, as had been done 
in the case of some political lecturers in England during the sus- 
pension of the Habeas Corpus Act, and send him at once on board 
a man-of-war. It was replied, that this would be rather danger- 
ous, and besides, that it would be awkward, as the Admiral of 
the North Seas was Mr. J. Haldane's uncle by blood, whilst it was 
again observed, that the Commander of the King's Land Forces 
was his uncle by marriage. But as they drank on, they became 
more and more resolved that in some way he should be put down, 
and open-air preaching crushed in North Berwick. Eising from 
the table, the Provost and magistrates sallied forth, threatening 
that if the preacher did not desist, they would make a law to stop 
him if they did not find one. In this infuriated mood they rushed 
forward to the spot, a boisterous throng, not omitting oaths, with 
horrid imprecations, and other melancholy proofs of their half- 
inebriated state. Mr. J. A. Haldane received them with calm 
self-possession, and in reply to their demands, intimated that he 
was infringing no law and interrupting no thoroughfare. He said, 
at the same time, that if as magistrates they required him to desist 
from preaching in that particular spot, he would certainly obey, 
but added, that when he heard men in authority setting such an 
example of profane swearing — "What!" exclaimed the magis- 
trates, eagerly interrupting the half-finished sentence, — " what do 
you say of us?" "I would not," he replied, with firmness, — "I 
would not say what I think of you." "Conscience," it has been 
truly said, "makes cowards of us all;" and the same determined 
composure of spirit, which a few years before had overawed the 
intoxicated mutineers at the door of the powder magazine of the 
Dutton, seemed now to have paralyzed the godless throng who 
had rushed from their revel to seize upon the preacher. In the 
meantime, great was the indignation that arose amongst the peo- 



SCENE AT NORTH BERWICK. 359 

pie who witnessed this wanton and indecent interruption, and it 
is difficult to say what might have been the result, had not a 
respectable former come forward and requested Mr. J. Haldane 
to adjourn to his field, which was private property, and where the 
jurisdiction of the Provost ceased. He did so, and drawing a 
moral from the enmity to the Gospel just witnessed, preached a 
powerful and impressive sermon, which sent away the people 
awed and solemnized. It was long remembered at North Ber- 
wick and in the neighborhood. That sermon was not, however, 
permitted to end without interruption, for such was the rancorous 
feeling of the Provost and magistrates, that, nettled at the defeat 
they had sustained, they prevailed upon one of the county gen- 
tlemen who commanded the Yeomanry to lend his drum, for the 
purpose of drowning the preacher's voice. This undignified act 
of magisterial interference did not, however, succeed, as the drum- 
mer was not allowed to enter the field, and the interruption was 
more vexatious than successful. 

There was, however, a sequel to the story. Shortly afterwards 
Mr. James Haldane was returning home, and as he reached his 
house in Edinburgh, No. 16 (then No. 8), George-street, he ob- 
served the unusual spectacle of a great funeral procession with 
two hearses passing his door. He inquired whose funeral it was, 
when he was shocked to learn that it was the funeral of the 
Provost of North Berwick, and his wife, who had both died sud- 
denly, and were about to be buried in the same grave. Another 
and more pleasing reminiscence has been since associated with 
this scene of interruption. Twenty years afterwards, when walk- 
ing one summer's evening near Portobello, with some of his chil- 
dren, Mr. J. A. Haldane met a tall, portly gentleman, of com- 
manding presence, who, on seeing him, immediately left the foot- 
path, and uncovering, made a profound bow, and passed on. Mr. 
J. Haldane returned the unlooked-for courtesy of the stranger, 
and next day discovered that it was the officer who lent the drum 
at North Berwick. Since that evening he had never met the 
preacher, but had deeply repented of the part which he was 
tempted to take in that affair ; it was a recollection that lay heavy 
on his conscience ; and he afterwards charged his sons to do what 
in them lay to show respect for Mr. J. Haldane and kindness to 
his family. It is still more pleasing to think that this officer him • 
self was a trophy of divine grace, and that the preacher to whom 
he had once refused to listen, and whose voice he had tried to 



360 THE CHANGE. 

drown, spoke to him the words of peace and prayed by his side 
when laid on the bed of death. Four gallant sons of his had 
engaged in defence of their country ; one of them distinguished 
himself as the colonel of a Highland regiment, and another re- 
ceived promotion for his zeal and conduct on the field of Waterloo. 
Both became, what was far better, good soldiers of Jesus Christ. 
The last time that Mr. James Haldane preached near London, 
was in the year 1848, when he proclaimed the gospel to a crowded 
military audience at Woolwich, where he had been invited by the 
excellent Minister of the Scottish Free Church, at the request of 
Colonel Anderson, who holds an important command in that 
garrison, and is the eldest surviving son of him who, just fifty 
years before, had been a party to the interruption at North Ber- 
wick. 

The occurrence of such incidents naturally grew less common, 
as Mr. J. Haldane's work fell more within the usual routine of an 
ordinary laborer in the ministry of the Gospel. But seldom has 
there been a man of whom it might be more truly said, that he 
was "instant in season and out of season." As a visitor of his 
own people, and of all who sought his spiritual aid, he was an 
example even in old age, down to the close of his lengthened 
days. Misery or wretchedness only constituted a fresh claim on 
his sympathy, and the dread of contagion or infection never inter- 
rupted his errands of mercy. On one occasion a pestilential fever 
was raging in a house at Stockbridge, and Dr. Alison, the eminent 
brother of the distinguished historian, left a person in charge, 
expressly to stop Mr. J. A. Haldane's entrance into a house where 
the danger was imminent. But the warning made no impression. 
He said he was in the path of duty, and ought not to be deterred 
from it by any personal apprehension. If the desertion of duty 
would be deemed an act of cowardice on the part of a soldier or 
sailor, why should there be less of loyalty or boldness in a soldier 
and servant of Christ ? 

His gentle and soothing manner in a sick-room was the index 
to the sympathy of his heart, and contrasted finely with the natu- 
ral energy of his fearless nature. His experimental knowledge 
of the truth, his wonderful familiarity with Scripture, and his 
remarkable unction in prayer, rendered his visits peculiarly ac- 
ceptable to those who sought for and valued spiritual comfort. 
Often was he invited to attend on those who were not connected 
with his Church, and it was remarked by many who had seceded 



ANECDOTE. 361 

from it at the time of the disruption, that in seasons of affliction 
they still gladly turned to him who had been their pastor in the 
Circus and the Tabernacle. 

In the summer of 1810 he visited Harrowgate, on account of his 
wife's health, and during the weeks he remained there embraced 
frequent opportunities of preaching in the Assembly-room and in 
the neighborhood. In 1811, he took his two eldest boys a short 
Highland tour, but whilst introducing them to the beauties of 
Dunkeld, or the wild grandeur of Killiecranky and Blair Athol, 
and beguiling the journey, as they returned by Perth to Stirling 
and Linlithgow, with tales of other times and reminiscences of his 
own and his brother's boyish days, he never forgot his one great 
vocation. At every place where they stopped he endeavored to 
be useful, whether by preaching as at Dunkeld, by distributing 
tracts, or speaking a word in season as opportunity offered. One 
day, when stopping at a rude country inn in the Ochill Hills, not 
far from the Rumbling Bridge, there were two gentlemen in the 
same room, with whom he entered into friendly conversation. At 
that time French brandy was scarce and costly, unless it happened 
to be smuggled, and some was brought which one of the gentle- 
men pronounced to be "excellent upon his salvation." Mr. J. 
Haldane did not notice this profanity, but continued to converse 
with him until their carriage was announced. They took leave 
with politeness, when Mr. James Haldane, following them to the 
door, requested the gentleman to accept of a tract of his own, 
entitled "The Great Salvation." "You were talking, Sir," he 
said, " of your salvation ; perhaps you will permit me to offer 
something that I have written upon that important subject." The 
stranger colored at the implied rebuke thus delicately conveyed, 
but expressing his sincere acknowledgments, drove off. 

In the spring of 1812 he made a journey to Newcastle, where 
the pastor of a Church, who had been educated at Mr. Haldane's 
early class in Glasgow, had apostatized into Socinianism. This 
was one of the comparatively few amongst all these students whe 
actually denied the faith. Mr. J. Haldane preached with great 
power " on the Person of Christ," and the substance of his sermon 
was afterwards published in a very excellent little treatise, em- 
bodying the testimony of Scripture both to the Godhead and 
manhood of the Saviour. His labors at Newcastle and in the 
neighboring towns were highly prized, and were deemed most 
important on this occasion. 



362 BUXTON. 

In the following year lie made another tour through the south 
of Scotland to Carlisle, where he was as indefatigable as in his 
earlier years in fulfilling his commission to preach the Gospel. 
He also visited the late Eev. John Fawcett, of Stanwix, an excel- 
lent clergyman of the Church of England, under whose tuition he 
was desirous of placing his eldest son, now deceased. Mr. Faw- 
cett's numbers were complete, but he recommended his friend, 
the Eev. L. Grainger, of Wintringham, who had been the much- 
esteemed curate and usher of Joseph Milner, the historian, and 
the tutor of Henry Kirke White. With him Mr. James Haldane 
successively placed his two eldest sons, a circumstance worthy of 
record as exhibiting, in a practical form, his love for good men 
and his superiority to mere sectarian prejudices. 

In 1814, he repaired, first to Buxton, and then to Harrowgate, 
for the health of his beloved wife, taking with them their eldest 
daughter, and his second son, then on his way to Wintringham. 
On their journey he stopped at Millbank, near Warrington, the 
residence of Mr. Eobert Spear, an eminent merchant, who took a 
deep interest in objects connected with the propagation of the 
Gospel. He had then repeated opportunities of preaching both 
at Millbank and in the neighborhood of Warrington, where he 
once more enjoyed an agreeable meeting with Mr. Eowland Hill, 
then a septuagenarian, and engaged on what he intended to be 
his last tour for the Missionary Society. On the following Sunday 
Mr. J. Haldane went by request to preach in the open air, in a 
village where there was a large manufacturing population and no 
Gospel ministry. He was accompanied by Mr. Thomas Smith, 
one of his brother's students, who was then tutor in Mr. Spear's 
family, and afterwards Professor at the Eotherham Academy. On 
arriving at the place where the sermon was to have been, on the 
village-green, the constable, addressing Mr. Smith, told him that 
he could allow of no preaching. Mr. J. A. Haldane, with great 
presence of mind, took out his Bible, and uncovering his head, 
observed, that, at all events, there could be no objection to his 
reading a portion of the Word of God. The constable seemed 
perplexed, and was struck, as it was said, with the bearing and 
appearance of the stranger, who thus quietly assumed his un- 
doubted right to read the Scriptures to the people. The result 
was, that from reading he began to expound, and by and by to 
speak, without interruption, directly and forcibly to the assem- 
blage, and concluded with prayer. 



buxton. 363 

At Buxton he constantly officiated on the Lord's-day, and 
occasionally on week-days, in the chapel at that place, attracting 
a large number of the visitors, as well as of the ordinary inhab- 
itants. The war had then scarcely ceased, and such watering- 
places as Buxton were much frequented by the aristocracy. In 
his old age Mr. James Haldane became more silent in mixed 
company, or with strangers ; but, in his earlier years, he had a 
happy faculty of introducing interesting conversation, and fre- 
quently turning it to good account. As he remained at Buxton 
long enough to rise, according to usual rotation, to the head of the 
public table, his influence was more and more felt, and although 
there had been, at first, a dread of his Methodism, he afterwards 
became a general favorite with the most intelligent portion of 
the company, which comprised Judges, Members of Parliament, 
counsellors, clergymen, general officers, and country squires. 
There was there a Welsh rector, from Anglesea, the uncle of a 
well-known Baronet and Member of Parliament, who, knowing 
nothing at the time of Mr. James Haldane, observed that " these 
poor devils, the Calvinists, make their people believe that every- 
thing, whether good or evil, is of God." Without appearing to 
take any umbrage at the worthy and good-humored rector's un- 
ceremonious description of the Calvinists, and, in reality, smiling 
at his prejudices, Mr. James Haldane quietly replied, " Ah ! Sir, 
that is a grave subject. Do you not remember the vision which 
the prophet told to King Ahab, how he saw the hosts of heaven 
standing around the throne of God, on the right hand and on the 
left ; and how the lying spirit received his commission to go forth 
and persuade Ahab to go up to Ramoth Gilead ; and how Ahab 
went, and fell, although warned of his folly and his danger V 
Before Mr. J. A. Haldane had finished, the portly and well-mean 
ing but not well-instructed divine, coloring red as crimson, pro 
fessed himself more than convinced, and gladly turned the con 
versation. When he left Buxton he received letters of acknowl 
edgment from several of the visitors, thanking him for his tracts ; 
or expressing their gratitude for spiritual instruction they had 
received. The few weeks he remained at Harrowgate were spent 
in the same manner, preaching, as opportunity offered, wherever 
there was an open door, and trying to introduce the Gospel into 
his conversation, without forcing it on others in such a way as to 
increase the offence of the cross. 

In December, 1814, Mrs. James Haldane lost her mother, who 



364 SIR RALPH ABERCROMBY. 

had survived her husband more than twenty years. She was a 
very superior woman, and had much of the character which be- 
longed to her family. She was in her seventy-seventh year, and 
died without any illness or previous warning, but leaving behind 
her a good hope that she had entered into the rest that remains 
for the people of God. Her father, Mr. Abercromby, of Tullie- 
body, who was born in 1704, and died in 1800, was remarkable 
for his strong sagacity, as well as for his longevity. There was 
something remarkable about this family. He had four sons and 
four daughters by his wife, Mary Dundas, of Manor, a niece of 
the celebrated Bishop Burnet. " He lived," says General David 
Stuart, of Garth, in his " History of the Highland Begiments," 
"to see all his four sons honored and respected, and at the head 
of their several professions. At one time, whilst his eldest son, 
Sir Kalph, was commanding in chief in the West Indies, his 
youngest son, Sir Eobert, held the same station in the East Indies, 
each having the red ribbon and star of the Order of the Bath. 
Another son, Burnet Abercromby, commanded an East India- 
man, and retired with a large fortune ; whilst his remaining son, 
an eminent, learned, and accomplished Scotch Judge, by the title 
of Lord Abercromby, was also much distinguished as a writer 
in the literary circles of Edinburgh." After stating these facts, 
General Stewart adds, " Three of his (Mr. Abercromby 's) daugh- 
ters were married to gentlemen of family and fortune, who resi- 
ded so near him that he could dine with either any day he chose ; 
and his fourth daughter, continuing unmarried, devoted her days 
to the declining years of her father. Latterly he lived with his 
son." Of these daughters, Elizabeth married her cousin, Major 
Joass, the grandson of General Abercromby, of Glassaugh, and 
great-grandson and heir of line to George Lord Banff. Two 
other daughters were married, the one to Colonel Edmonstone, of 
Newton, and the other to Mr. Bruce, of Kennett, whose family 
claim the mail heirship of the Eoyal house of Bruce, but who was 
himself better known by his title of Lord Kennett, as an eminent 
and much respected Scotch Judge. Had General Stewart lived, 
he might have added the remarkable fact, that two of Mr. Aber- 
cromby's grandsons, who had both reached manhood before his 
death, were destined to sit at the same time as Peers of the realm. 
General Stewart's account of Sir Kalph's departure on the expe- 
dition to Egypt is interesting : 

"I happened," he says, "to be in Edinburgh in May, 1800, and dined with 



A EOMISH AECHBISHOP. 865 

Lady Abercromby on the day Sir Ralph left her to embark on that expedition 
from winch he never returned. A King's messenger had arrived from London 
the day before, and Sir Ralph, only wailing for a few family arrangements, set 
out on the following morning. When at dinner with the family, after his de- 
parture, I was affected, in a manner which I can never forget, by the respectable 
old gentleman's anxiety about his son, and his observations and inquiries about 
his future intentions, and what service was intended for him. His particular 
destination was not known at that time, but it was suspected that he would 
be immediately employed. ' They will wear him out,' said he, ' too soon' (the 
son was then in his sixty-eighth year), ' and make an old man of him before his 
time, with their expeditions to Holland one year and the West Indies the next ; 
and if he would follow my advice, he would settle at home and take his rest.' 
And when Lady Abercromby observed that she was afraid that he must go 
abroad, ' Then,' said he, ; he will never see me more.' The verification of this 
melancholy prediction was to be expected, from his great age, being then in his 
ninety-seventh year. He died in the month of July following, eight months 
before his son, whose absence he regretted so much." 

In 1816 Mr. J. Haldane spent some weeks at Gilsland, in Cum- 
berland, in the hope of recruiting his wife's drooping health. On 
that occasion he met a well-known Roman Catholic Archbishop, 
the late Dr. Everard, titular of Cashel. He was one of the old 
school of Irish priests, before the well-educated and well-mannered 
race, trained in France, had been changed for the coarser and 
more turbulent pupils of the College of Maynooth. Dr. Everard 
was a man of very cultivated mind, who had lived in the fami- 
lies of some of the highest English aristocracy, and had seen 
much of the world. His character was described in glowing 
colors by Lord Glenelg, in one of his speeches on the Roman 
Catholic emancipation question. At first he appeared at the hotel 
simply as Mr. Everard ; and the only circumstance which created 
any suspicion, in regard to his rank, was the awe with which he 
was obviously regarded by a priest, who was also staving at the 
hotel, and whose reserved conversation and altered habits denoted 
a restraint, to which he had not been previously subjected. 

On the very first day that they met at table, Dr. Everard 
singled out Mr. James Haldane from the crowd of visitors, and 
in the evening made up to him and engaged him in very interest- 
ing conversation. Next day his attentions became more marked, 
and, at dinner, it appeared that the Doctor's servant had received 
orders to wait on Mr. and Mrs. Haldane as much as on himself. 
The intimacy increased, and every day hours were spent in the 
walks or drives around Gilsland, discussing the claims of the 
Romish Church and the doctrines of the Gospel. Mighty in the 



8G6 AECHBISHOP EVERARD. 

Scriptures, and armed in Christian panoply, Mr. James Haldane 
repelled every argument drawn from the traditions of the Church 
or the authority of man ; and, on the other hand, assured his new 
acquaintance, that, if Eomanists refused an appeal " to the law 
and to the testimony," it must be because there was no light in 
them. 

These friendly discussions were carried on with intense earnest- 
ness, and in a spirit that inspired mutual respect. Dr. Everard 
confidentially disclosed his rank and position in the Eomish 
Church, but solemnly appealed to heaven, that he sought only the 
truth, and was indifferent to all secular considerations. The con- 
versations became daily more interesting. On the Lord's-day Mr. 
James Haldane preached in the assembly-room. Before the ser- 
mon, Dr. Everard begged the daughter of his Protestant friend to 
persuade her father to preach in the drawing-room, and tell him 
how much he himself desired to listen. After the service was 
over, Dr. Everard asked why his request had not been complied 
with, and why Mr. J. Haldane had not preached in the drawing- 
room, " where," he said, "I could have remained and listened 
without any breach of discipline or canonical law, although, of 
course, it was impossible to follow you to another place." Mr. J. 
Haldane explained that many servants and cottagers would have 
been excluded from hearing, had he conducted the service in the 
drawing-room, but offered to go over all the leading topics of his 
discourse. This he did, and discussed them with his usual can- 
dor. A few days before he left Gilsland, Dr. Everard confined 
himself to his room and did not appear in public. He afterwards 
sought a parting interview with his Protestant friend ; it was at 
once solemn and affecting. The Archbishop told Mr. J. Haldane 
that the conversations he had enjoyed with him, and particularly 
his appeals to the Bible, had shaken him more than anything he 
had ever before heard, and that it had made him very uneasy ; 
that he had, therefore, determined, with fasting and prayer, once 
more to seek counsel of God, in order that his error, if he were 
in error, might be shown to him. He added, that his medita- 
tions, during his hours of fasting and retirement, had led him to 
this train of thought : " Here is a man who is certainly mighty 
in the Scriptures, but who interprets the Bible for himself and 
depends on his own private judgment. The case is different with 
myself. If I err, I err with a long line of holy men who have 
lived and died in the bosom of the Catholic Church." Mr. James 



ARCHBISHOP EYEEARD. 367 

Haldane endeavored to show the danger of trusting to the exam- 
ple or opinions of fallible men, although some of those named, 
such as Pascal and Fenelon, had been themselves persecuted for 
their Protestant tendencies ; and he contrasted the opinions based 
on the shifting sands of human opinion, with the certainty that 
belongs to the written Word of God, read by the light of God's 
Holy Spirit shining on its pages. He also said something about 
"the traditions of the apostles." "What," said Dr. Everard, 
" do you speak of traditions ? I had thought you discarded them 
entirely." The reply was, " The traditions of fallible men I re- 
ject, but the traditions of the apostles, as recorded by the finger 
of inspiration, are to be received as every other part of the in- 
spired Word of God." Mr. James Haldane added, " Pardon me, 
but I must tell you, in faithfulness and love, that it is my firm 
conviction, that the Church which you so much esteem is no 
other than the woman which the apostle John beheld in the 
Apocalypse ' drunken with the blood of the saints and martyrs 
of Jesus.' " Again he said, " Do not think me rude." The 
Archbishop affectionately pressed his hand, and said, " No, my 
dear Sir ; I know you too well to think so. I am persuaded that 
you only speak for my good." Mr. James Haldane once more 
urged on the Archbishop, the necessity of further investigation of 
the Bible with prayer. A compliance with this request was 
promised, coupled with an urgent entreaty that his Protestant 
friend would do the same. Mr. James Haldane replied that 
his convictions were based upon a rock too solid to be shaken, 
and one which would admit of being again and again examined 
with minute attention. But he reminded Dr. Everard, that all 
the claims of Popery rested on human testimony ; on principles 
that would not bear the light of God's Word, and around which 
there was, at best, a lurid halo of doubt and uncertainty. They 
parted with mutual expressions of regard, and Dr. Everard died 
a few years afterwards, at Cashel, where there were whispers in 
the neighborhood, which intimated that his dying room was care- 
fully watched to prevent the intrusion of those, whose presence 
was not desired, and that the mystery which was kept up, as to 
his illness, arose from suspicions that he did not continue stead- 
fast in the Eomish faith. The death-bed of the celebrated Bishop 
Doyle, at Carlow, was attended with similar suspicions, which 
have been since confirmed by the narrative published by his 
nieces, who were not suffered to enter his chamber until the life- 



368 CAPTAIN GARDNER, 

less corpse was laid out in state, in Ms Episcopal robes, attended 
by monks, with lighted torches, chanting his requiem, amidst all 
that pompous ceremonial with which Kome strives to make the 
senses the slaves of the imagination. 

In 1817, Mr. James Haldane received an unexpected visit from 
his old friend, Captain Patrick Gardner, under whose care he had 
gone to sea, and to whom, in 1801, he had so earnestly written, 
pressing on him the concerns of his immortal soul. The pleasure 
with which Captain Gardner was welcomed, the interest taken in 
recalling the names and pursuing the history of their old ship- 
mates and early friends, seemed to renew the days of their youth. 
But Captain Gardner's health was broken ; and after an absence 
from Edinburgh of some weeks, on inquiring for him at his hotel, 
it was found that he had returned dangerously ill. During his ill- 
ness he was daily watched by his friend, who did everything to 
promote his comfort, and particularly sought opportunity to call 
his attention to the Word of God. Captain Gardner at first inti- 
mated that he was unable to listen long, and proposed about five 
verses. This request was punctually attended to, and the parable 
of the Pharisee and the publican was read, followed by a short 
prayer, founded on the cry, " God be merciful to me, a sinner." 
By degrees Captain Gardner came to listen with greater interest, 
and after he returned to London he wrote to his old friend, thank- 
ing him for all his unremitting kindness, and telling him that he 
was now able himself to pray. He died rather unexpectedly in 
April, 1818, leaving behind the hope that his visit to Edinburgh 
had not been in vain. His will had been made many years be- 
fore, but Mr. James Haldane was the chief executor, — a circum- 
stance which called him to London, where he had the opportunity 
of renewing his acquaintance with some of his old friends, and 
particularly at Hatcham House, with the late Mr. Hardcastle, who 
was then fast approaching the confines of the eternal world. He 
was also present at some of the principal meetings in May, and 
particularly took part at the anniversary of the British and 
Foreign Bible Society, in Freemasons' Hall, where he delivered a 
short but effective speech. He also preached as usual, whenever 
there was opportunity, but nowhere with great interest to himself 
or with more acceptance to his audience, than in the Seaman's 
Floating Chapel, then recently established on the Thames. 

On his return from London, it was with deep feeling that he 
found his beloved wife, the mother of nine children, more than 



DEATH OF MRS. J. HALDANE. 369 

ever suffering from shattered health. Again he conducted her to 
Harrowgate, in quest of renovation. The change of air and 
scene, which always cheered her bright spirit, appeared beneficial 
for a time, and there, too, her husband enjoyed the opportunities 
in which she delighted, for preaching, or conversing amongst 
strangers concerning the things which pertain to the salvation of 
the soul. On this, as on former occasions, he had much pleasure 
in the society of the Eev. Mr. Hardy, of Thorpe Arch, a clergy- 
man of the Church of England, with whom he had frequent in- 
tercourse during several visits to Harrowgate. In the winter, the 
chronic ailments of Mrs. James Haldane gradually became more 
serious, and in February a course of mercurial treatment was pro- 
posed by three eminent physicians, under which her constitution 
rapidly gave way. Nothing could exceed the tenderness with 
which her husband watched over her dying couch, and the ear- 
nestness of his prayers for her recovery. It was not, however, 
till within thirty hours of her death that any immediate appre- 
hensions were entertained. The moment that the danger became 
imminent, he gathered all his children together, and kneeling 
down in the midst of them, offered up a prayer never to be for- 
gotten, in which the most pathetic and earnest supplications for 
her recovery, if consistent with the Lord's will, were mingled 
with expressions of unreserved confidence in the love of God, 
and submission to the Divine pleasure. In particular, he gave 
thanks that on a former occasion of dangerous illness, in 1803, 
the Lord had been pleased to answer prayer, to rebuke the fever, 
and to prolong her life during the sixteen years that had inter- 
vened. He therefore prayed as one who knew the Lord as the 
hearer of prayer, very pitiful and full of compassion. It was a 
night much to be remembered. It exhibited the struggle and the 
triumph of faith, contending with the fondest earthly affection, 
the tenclerest and deepest feelings of the husband and the father 
controlled by the resignation of the believer, enabled to say, 
" Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." It was the decla- 
ration of a heathen, that a good man struggling with adversity 
was a sublime spectacle, and so it might be said of him, whose 
faith in a covenant God enabled him to triumph over the agony of 
an impending calamity. Prayer was at all times the weapon which 
he grasped in every hour of need. It was not, however, the will 
of God on this occasion to listen to his cry to spare the wife of his 
youth, or to hear the supplications of those whose aid he sought in 

24 



370 CHKISTIAN RESIGNATION. 

intercession with their heavenly Father. On Saturday evening, the 
27th of February, 1819, in the presence of her husband and 
eight surviving children, she fell asleep in Jesus. The blow was 
severe, but her husband knew whence it came, and where to look 
for comfort. He deeply felt his loss, but he sorrowed not as those 
who have no hope. In writing shortly afterwards to her only re- 
maining uncle, who had addressed to him a sympathizing letter 
of condolence, he touchingly remarked : "As I closed her eyes, 
a tear trickled down her cheek, and I thought that it was the last 
she would shed, for she had gone to Him who wipes away all 
tears from the eyes of His people." On the very evening of her 
death, he wrote to the following effect, in answer to the affection- 
ate inquiries of his oldest friend, who had watched over him as a 
boy:— 

" My dearest Aunt, — It has pleased Almighty God to remove 
out of this vale of tears my beloved wife. The stroke is heavy, 
but she is done with pain and sorrow, and is gone to be present 
with the Lord. And shall we murmur because another tie to 
earth is cut away ? Not surely those who have learned to wait 
for the appearing of their Master, and to account themselves 
strangers and pilgrims in this world, who declare that they have 
here no abiding city, but that their hearts and their treasures are 
in heaven." 

It was remarked that at this time it seemed as if he had taken 
another step within the veil, and as if his communion with the 
Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, had become closer and more 
intense. His feelings on the vanity of the world, as contrasted 
with the solid resting-place which belongs to the citizens of that 
city which is stable as the mount of God, are well expressed in a 
letter which, many years afterwards, he wrote on the death of his 
friend, Mrs. Hardcastle, the mother of his daughter-in-law, Mrs. 
Alexander Haldane : — 

" It is a beautiful remark of Leighton's, that the apostle contrasts the disper- 
sion of believers in this world with their election in heaven. They are spiritu- 
ally alienated from the world, and interested in the new Jerusalem. Let us, 
my dearest Alexander, highly prize our privileges. Let us live to God. The 
night is far spent, and the day is at hand, and the nearer we approach to the 
full enjoyment of blessedness, the more may we feel the attraction of Him whom 
our soul loveth ! Many years ago, I read in the ' Arabian Nights' of a moun- 
tain of loadstone. Ships at a great distance felt its influence. At first their 
approach to it was scarcely perceptible. There was a declining from their course 
hardly to be noticed, and it excited little apprehension. But the attraction 



CHRISTIAN RESIGNATION. 371 

gradually became stronger, until the vessel was irresistibly impelled onwards 
with increased velocity. At last it drew all the nails and ironwork to itself, and 
so the ship fell to pieces. ' The path of the just is as the shining light.' When 
first the believer feels the love of Christ, it is like a mustard seed; but it in- 
creases, and he is constrained by its influence to press more earnestly after the 
full enjoyment. At last the spirit can no more be kept at a distance from Him 
n-hom it loves. It flies to His embrace, and the body is dissolved." 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

[1816, 1817.] 

Twenty chequered years of failure and success had not damped 
the youthful ardor with which the two brothers had devoted 
their lives to the spread of the Gospel. Their zeal was not the 
offspring of wild enthusiasm, and its energy was not dependent 
on human contingencies. After a brief period of comparative re- 
pose, the termination of the great revolutionary war opened up to 
Mr. Haldane a new field of enterprise, which he was not slow to 
occupy. In the summer of 1816, he hastened through the press 
his work on the Evidences of Christianity, for which he had been 
long collecting materials. The reason of his urgency was not very 
obvious to his printer, the late excellent Mr. Eitchie, who, although 
willing to go to India as the superintendent of a missionary press, 
was not so prompt to change the slow-going habits of the olden 
time. But the explanation shortly followed, when Mr. Haldane 
announced his intention of making a missionary tour on the Con- 
tinent of Europe. The results of that Mission stretch into eternity, 
and will forever connect the name of Eobert Haldane with the 
revival of the Gospel in France and Switzerland. The distinguish- 
ed historian of the Eeformation, himself a trophy of this work of 
grace, has said that a narrative of this revival would form "one 
of the most beautiful episodes in the history of the Church." 

The materials for such a narrative are. much scattered, for it 
was characteristic of both the brothers, that they always seemed 
to dread the appearance of egotism, or of anything that savored 
of glorying in man. Nothing was more cheering to their spirits 
than the success of their labors, but each was deeply and habitu- 
ally persuaded that, in regard to the things of God, they were but 
the feeble instruments employed by Him, who has determined to 
stain the pride of all human boasting, and cause " him that glorieth 



LETTER TO REV. E. BICKERSTETH. 373 

to glory only in the Lord." If there were a shadow of boasting, 
it was only in the success with which the Lord vouchsafed to 
honor the exhibition of the light of God's Word, unclouded by 
man's wisdom and man's devices. 

Apart from the scattered notices of Mr. Haldane's Continental 
labors, which are to be found in the history of many faithful pas- 
tors in Switzerland and France, there are several sources from 
which something like a connected account of his proceedings may 
be gathered. One is contained in his own letter to the Arian 
Professor of Divinity at Geneva, published in 1824, both in French 
and English, which is replete with massive theology, as well as 
with valuable and delightful particulars connected with the results 
of his visit to Geneva. The other is a friendly letter to the late 
Eev. Edward Bickersteth, correcting some mistakes of the Eev. 
Kichard Burgess, of Chelsea, published in a little volume, entitled 
M A Yoice from the Alps." Previous to that publication, Mr. 
Haldane had resisted all the importunity used to induce him to 
furnish a connected narrative of his labors at Geneva and Mon- 
tauban. But when he saw so erroneous an account of a great 
work of God, not only as to its extent, but as to the manner in 
which it had been carried on, he felt that some contradiction was 
necessary, lest silence should be mistaken for acquiescence. It 
was always his conviction that the blessing on his labors was de- 
signed as an encouragement to those who should cast away world- 
ly policy, and in the strength of God, rest boldly on the blessing 
promised, both to the written and spoken word. Prejudices are 
not needlessly to be offended. Opposition is not needlessly to be 
encountered. But neither prejudices nor opposition were, in Mr. 
Haldane's reckoning, any just apology for keeping back the whole 
counsel of God. 

" Auchingray, Sept. 4, 1839. 

" My dear Sir, — Among the valuable books with which you 
kindly presented me during your late visit to Edinburgh, I turned 
with interest to the work you have published under the title of 
'A Yoice from the Alps.' I rejoice to find that, in the midst of 
your other useful labors in the missionary cause, you have not 
been unmindful of Continental Europe, and that you are desirous 
of stimulating the zeal which has of late years been kindled in 
the breasts of British Christians, in behalf of those countries 
where the candle of the Lord had been well nigh extinguished. 

" In the ' Yoice from the Alps,' I found an address to a clerical 



374 LETTER TO REV. E. BICKERSTETH. 

meeting by the Kev. K. Burgess, of Chelsea, which contains an 
account of my own proceedings at Geneva altogether erroneous. 
Mr. Burgess has doubtless been misinformed on the subject ; but 
his mistakes have been shared or adopted by Mr. Meston,* in his 
recent i Observations on the Present State of Eeligion in France.' 
To prevent the further currency of these misstatements, which, if 
uncontradicted, will be repeated by others, I shall first notice the 
errors into which these gentlemen have fallen, and then briefly 
relate the leading circumstances connected with my residence on 
the Continent, in which the hand of the Lord may be clearly seen, 
to the praise of the glory of His grace. 

" The narratives of Mr. Burgess and Mr. Metson alike confound 
dates and circumstances. It was not in 1818, as stated by both 
of these gentlemen, but in 1816, that I went to Geneva. Mr. 
Drummond and I did not labor there together, as it would appear 
by their accounts. Mr. Drummond did not arrive at Geneva till 
two days before I left the place. I was not ' armed with religious 
tracts and addresses,' as Mr. Burgess affirms, but with the Word 
of God. The distribution of tracts is in general highly to be com- 
mended ; but in the circumstances in which I was placed at that 
period in Geneva, I should have considered such weapons but ill- 
fitted to assault the strongholds of Satan. Far from finding ' but 
few voices to respond to my appeal,' as Mr. Burgess and Mr. Mes- 
ton both intimate, by the blessing of God, I found many. And 
instead of not appearing 'to have met with success,' during my 
stay, according to Mr. Meston, the success with which the Lord 
was graciously pleased to accompany the testimony borne to his 
truth was very remarkable ; and perhaps the more so, because it 
was, so far as I know, the first, after the termination of the war, 
systematically and publicly borne on the Continent, by any one 
from Britain, to the grand distinctive doctrines of the Gospel. Dr. 
Malan ' raised his voice in behalf of the truth,' not, as they assert, 
1 after,' but before I left Geneva. The following brief narrative 
of my proceedings on the Continent may illustrate the gracious 
providence of God, and prove an encouragement to others to 
speak out boldly and fully, as they may have opportunity of 
declaring the whole counsel of God. 

"For many years I had cherished the idea of going to France, 
with the view of doing something to promote the knowledge of 

* Mr. Meston is a valuable preacher at Lille, who afterwards explained that he 
had implicitly trusted the narrative of Mr Burgess. 



LETTER TO REV. E. BICKERSTETH. 375 

the Gospel in a country in which I had been three times before 
as a traveller. Accordingly, when the return of peace rendered 
my design practicable, I went to the Continent. Being, however, 
unacquainted with a single individual there, and therefore unable 
to arrange any particular plan of action, I feared that my object 
might prove abortive ; and, in consequence, when asked, before 
I left Scotland, how long I expected to be absent, I replied, ' Pos- 
sibly only six weeks.' The Lord, however, was pleased to open 
a wide and effectual door, leading me in a way that I knew not, 
and my residence abroad continued about three years. 

"On arriving at Paris, involved, as it appeared, in Egyptian 
darkness, I soon perceived that I had no means of furthering the 
object of my journey in that great metropolis. Unexpectedly, 
however, I met with Mr. Hillhouse, a gentleman from America, 
of whom I had not before heard. He had landed at Bourdeaux, 
and travelling through the south of France, had gone to Geneva, 
and thence to Paris. Having passed through Montauban, where 
the French Theological Protestant Faculty was founded by Na- 
poleon, he had there, and in other places, inquired respecting the 
Protestant ministers, and he communicated to me all his infor- 
mation on the subject. He told me that at Geneva there were 
only two individuals to whom I could have access, the one a 
pastor, in advanced years, the other not a pastor, but what is 
termed a minister, and that nearly the whole of the other pastors 
were Arians or Socinians." 

Thus far the letter to Mr. Bickersteth. It was on the 9th of 
October, 1816, that Mr. and Mrs. Haldane left Edinburgh, trav- 
elling by way of London, Dover, and Calais. At Paris he re- 
ceived from Mr. Hillhouse, a gentleman attached to the American 
Embassy, a very melancholy account of the state of religion, both 
in France and Switzerland, but he supplied a list of Protestant 
pastors and laymen, which had been originally furnished to him, 
for the purposes of his tour, by M. Martin, President of the Con- 
sistory at Bourdeaux. The solitary pastor mentioned as an ex- 
ception to the general apostasy at Geneva, was the late M. Mou- 
linie, who is described, by M. Gaussen, as a pious man, but re- 
served in his manners, an Arminian, and a mystic. The minister 
was M. Galland, who was at that time an inquirer, but still far 
from enjoying the Gospel light. With these explanations, Mr. 
Haldane's letter to Mr. Bickersteth will now be continued : — 



376 LETTER TO REV. E. BICKERSTETH. 

u Finding no opening at Paris, I immediately set out for 
Geneva, hoping that something might be done through the two 
individuals referred to by Mr. Hillhouse. On my arrival I called 
on the pastor alluded to, the late M. Moulinie, and conversed 
with him on the Gospel. He was very kind, but appearing to 
acquiesce in all that I advanced, discussion on any point was out 
of the question, and no progress was made. Being, therefore, un- 
able to discover means of usefulness at Geneva, and finding on 
inquiry that the young man also spoken of by Mr. Hillhouse, 
had some time before removed to Berne, I repaired to that city, 
where I found he had been ordained a pastor. He was not an 
Arian or Socinian, but although very ignorant respecting the 
Gospel, he was willing to inquire and hear concerning the great 
truths which it reveals. I remained in Berne about eight days, 
during which he came to me every morning at ten o'clock, and 
continued till ten at night — in fact, as late as it was possible for 
him, the gates of the city, beyond which he lodged, being shut at 
that hour. During the whole day I endeavored to set before him, 
as far as I was enabled, everything relating to the Gospel, and 
have good reason to believe that the word spoken was accom- 
panied with the blessing of the Lord. I was afterwards informed, 
that subsequently to my departure he conversed with his col- 
league, the other pastor of the Church, on the subject of our dis- 
cussions, and that in considering what had been advanced, they 
arrived at the conclusion that it must be the true doctrine of sal- 
vation. 

" I hesitated whether I should return to Geneva, but at last 
resolved to do so, having heard of two Prussian clergymen,* who 
had recently been in England, and were passing through that 
town, with whom it was supposed I might have an opportunity 
of conversing on the Gospel, — and also of a pastor at a little dis- 
tance in the country, who, my new acquaintance at Berne in- 
formed me, would listen to my statements, but would ' draw him- 
self up, and not answer a word.' To Geneva I accordingly re- 
turned. With the Prussian clergymen I 'found no satisfaction in 
conversing, and, although I subsequently did not experience the 
reserve I anticipated in the pastor just referred to, yet I had not 
the gratification of meeting him till after the lapse of some time. 

" I, however, again visited M. Moulinie', with whom I had 
before conversed, who, as formerly, was very kind, but with 

* Professor Sack and his brother. 



LETTER TO REV, E. BICKERSTETH. 377 

whom I could make no progress. From all I could learn from 
him, Geneva was involved in the most deplorable darkness. It 
was, as Mr. Burgess observes, 'an unbroken field of labor,' with 
a ' fallen Church.' Calvin, once its chiefest boast and ornament, 
with his doctrines and works, had been set aside and forgotten 
while the pastors and professors were in general Arians or Socio 
ians. Some exceptions among them there were, including M 
Moulinie, who held the divinity of our Lord Jesus, and, I believe 
loved and served him according to their light ; but that light 
was so obscure — they were on the whole so ignorant, so incapable 
of rightly dividing the word of truth, that their preaching was 
without fruit. They preached neither law nor Gospel fully, 
and their doctrine did not seem to affect the consciences of their 
hearers. A small prayer-meeting had for some time been held, 
in consequence, I believe, of a visit of Madame Krudener to 
Geneva ; and by one belonging to it, I was told, that, sensible of 
their want of knowledge, they had prayed that an instructor 
should be sent to them, and that their prayer, they now believed, 
was answered. 

11 Being unable to meet with any other person with whom I 
might converse on the Gospel, I resolved to quit Geneva without 
delay, and proceed to Montauban. The Lord, however, is often 
pleased to overrule our purposes, by occurrences which, in them- 
selves, appear trifling, and thus to bring about results that could 
not have been anticipated. M. Moulinie had politely offered to 
conduct Mrs. Haldane to see the model of the mountains, a little 
way out of town, and with this object he promised to call on us 
the day following. In the morning, however, we received a note 
from him, saying, that, having suffered from a severe headache 
during the night, he was himself unable to come, but had sent a 
young man, a student of divinity, who would be our conductor. 
On this providential circumstance depended my continuance at 
Geneva, which I had been on the point of leaving. With this 
student I immediately entered into conversation respecting the 
Gospel, of which I found him profoundly ignorant, although in a 
state of mind that showed he was willing to receive information. 
He returned with me to the inn, and remained till late at night. 
Next morning he came with another student, equally in darkness 
with himself. I questioned them respecting their personal hope 
of salvation, and the foundation of that hope. Had they been 
trained in the schools of Socrates or Plato, and enjoyed no other 



378 ME. HAT J) AXE'S VISIT TO SWITZERLAND. 

means of instruction, they could scarcely have been more ignorant 
of the doctrines of the Gospel. They had. in fact, learned much 
more of the opinions of the heathen philosophers, than of the 
doctrines of the Saviour and his Apostles. To the Bible and its 
contents their studies had never been directed. After some con- 
versation, they became convinced of their ignorance of the Scrip- 
tures, and of the way of salvation, and exceedingly desirous of 
information. I therefore postponed my intended departure from 
Geneva." 

During the short interval that elapsed between Mr. Haldane's 
first visit to Geneva and his return to that city, as noticed in the 
letter, he traversed a great part of Switzerland. At Lausanne he 
met a pious and zealous English lady (Miss Greaves), who was 
subsequently very instrumental in persuading him to return to 
Geneva. The eloquent, excellent M. Galland was the young pas- 
tor, with whom he had so much interesting discussion at Berne, 
and who was then led to embrace the truth. Thence Mr. Haldane 
proceeded to Basle, where he met M. Empeytaz. in the household 
of the celebrated Baroness Krudener. the friend of the Emperor 
Alexander. "With that lady.'" says M. Gaussen, '"Mr. Haldane 
had a long conversation. He found in her, as he said, much of 
the spirit of charity, but very little knowledge." After consid- 
erable hesitation, he was induced to abandon his intention of leav- 
ing Switzerland and to return to Geneva, partly in the hope of 
conversing with Professor Sack on the religious state and pros- 
pects of Germany, to which country, despairing of Switzerland, 
he was also turning his attention, but chiefly with the view of 
seeing M. Gaussen, whom M. Galland has described as a young 
minister, living six miles from Geneva, ,; who would listen to his 
statements, draw himself up. but not answer a word." Soon after 
his arrival at Geneva the second time, Mr. Haldane inquired for 
M. Gaussen, who had been licensed, in 1315, as a minister, and 
ordained on Good Friday, in 1816, as the pastor of Satigny, a 
delightful little village, five or six miles beyond the walls of Ge- 
neva. "I had already." says M. Gaussen. ••submitted my faith 
to the great doctrines of the Word of God. but the gravity of 
Mr. Haldane, the authority with which he always appealed to the 
Scriptures, and his profound acquaintance with them, made an 
impression on me never to be effaced, and that just before the 
time when the Lord, by a sudden stroke, took from me all the 
joys of this world. When I paid him my first visit, it was on 



GEXEVA IX ITS GLORY. 379 

the invitation of Charles Kieu, and when he said to me, in the 
middle of our conversation, that he had returned to Geneva pur- 
posely to see me, I looked at him with astonishment, and his 
countenance became so red. I love to recall these little details, 
because all the souvenirs of that excellent man, and of the good 
which he did amongst us, are dear and precious. His visit to 
Berne was blessed to M. Galland, and his visit to Geneva was 
blessed to us all." "I visited him," adds M. Gaussen, "only 
occasionally, but I make bold to number myself with those 
who cherish his memory with the fondest and most affectionate 
gratitude." Such were the providential circumstances under 
which, at the close of the year 1816, Robert Haldane took up his 
abode in the city of Calvin, of Farel, and of Beza. 

Geneva is one of those names which symbolizes something far 
more glorious than the little town, whose ancient battlements 
were at once the monuments of the defensive skill of Vauban, 
and of the persecuting tyranny of the house of Savoy. Geneva 
has been for ages a term antagonistic to Rome. Placed at the 
extremity of its own placid and beautiful lake, where the blue 
waters of "the arrowy Rhone'' rush onwards to the ocean, this 
free city, as if designed to be a witness for God against Popery, 
whether Ultra-montane or Gallican, stood between the Jura and 
the Alps, themselves the types of beauty and sublimity. Within 
its hospitable gates were received several of the distinguished 
Italian families, proscribed for favoring the Reformation. It was 
the city where Knox, with other exiles from Scotland, found an 
asylum, and whence he imported into his own favored land that 
form of Church government, to which Scotland has so fondly 
and firmly adhered. At a later period it welcomed many of the 
French, who fled from the persecution which followed the revo- 
cation of the Edict of Nantes. Geneva was, indeed, the glory 
of the Reformation, the battle-field of light and darkness, the 
Thermopylae of Protestantism, from whose Alpine heights the 
light of Gospel truth once streamed forth with brilliant lustre, 
athwart the blackness of Papal superstition. But Geneva fell 
from its ancestral faith, and proved how vain are historic names, 
orthodox creeds, and scriptural formularies, where the spirit ceases 
to animate the lifeless frame. The younger Turretine, the degen- 
erate son of an illustrious sire, is said, more than a century ago, 
quietly to have laid aside the doctrine of the Trinity, when he 
was Professor of Theology. In 1777, Professor Yinet allowed 



380 EOUSSEAU, VOLTAIRE, AND GIBBON. 

Arian theses to be maintained before him by the students of the 
university. And it may be added, as a crowning evidence of 
their apostasy, that twenty years before that period, the Infidel 
DAlembert complimented the Yenerable Company,* in the 
French Encyclopaedia, in an article, in which he observes, " To 
say all in one word, many of the pastors of Geneva have no other 
religion but a perfect Socinianism, rejecting all that they call mys- 
teries." The answer of the pastors was unsatisfactory and equivo- 
cal, and the questions afterwards put to them received no explicit 
reply. Their apostasy was indeed clandestine rather than avowed, 
and DAlembert remarked, with bitter sarcasm, " I should be ex- 
tremely concerned to be suspected of having betrayed their secret." 
But in the writings of the " self- torturing sophist," Jean Jaques 
Eousseau, there is a still more melancholy picture of the lapsed 
condition of Geneva. In one of his "Letters from the Moun- 
tains," he thus writes: — 

" It is asked of the ministers of the Church of Geneva, if Jesus Christ be 
God ? They dare not answer. It is asked, if he was a mere man. They are 
embarrassed, and will not say they think so. A philosopher, with a glance of 
the eye, penetrates their character. He sees them to be Arians, Socinians, 
Deists ; he proclaims it, and thinks he does them honor. They are alarmed, 
terrified ; they come together, they discuss, they are in agitation, they know not 
to which of the saints they should turn, and, after earnest consultations, de- 
liberations, conferences, all vanishes in amphigore ; and they neither say, yes or 
10. Oh ! Genevans, these gentlemen, your ministers, in truth are very singu- 
ar people ! They do not even know what they believe, or what they do not 
>elieve. They do not even know what they would wish to appear to believe. 
Their only manner of establishing their faith is, to attack the faith of others." 

The citizens of Geneva have done homage to Eousseau, and, 
amidst the modern improvements of their city, have placed his 
statue by the side of the bridge, which spans the Khone at the 
spot where that river rushes from the lake. 

The presence of Yoltaire for two years at Ferney, within a 
pleasant walk from the gates, was not likely to improve either 
the theology or the morals of the Consistory. Lausanne is little 
more than twenty miles further up the lake, and the fact that 

* In the national Church of Geneva there are about twenty-five pastors, who serve 
the five churches of the city, according to a system of rotation. These, with the 
country pastors of the canton, constitute the Venerable Company, and with the addi- 
tion of some lay elders and government officers, constitute the consistory. Before a 
student can become a pastor, he must be licensed as a minister. These distinctions 
require to be kept in view in speaking of the Genevese Church. 



GENEVA IN 1816. 381 

Gibbon selected that place for his residence, may probably deepen 
the shadows of this picture of surrounding infidelity. Gibbon 
announced to his friends, that the first stroke of a rebel drum 
would be the signal of his departure from the Canton de Vaud. 
He himself had been sounding the tocsin of rebellion against the 
King of kings, and was as intolerant of a true Christian as he 
was of a revolutionary leveller. 

During the reign of Napoleon, Geneva was incorporated with 
France, but the Emperor permitted the Consistory to resume its 
functions, and maintain its lifeless form of Protestantism. At the 
close of the war, it was annexed to the Helvetic Confederation, 
but with French intercourse, French manners had crept in. The 
theatres were opened on the Sunday evenings, and even the pas- 
tors, on certain solemn festivals, dismissed their congregations 
earlier, in order that they might themselves participate in the fes- 
tivities of the Lord's-day, which was closed with fireworks on the 
lake. 

It was at this period of its history that Robert Haldane entered 
Geneva, and, as he passed its ancient gates, observed to one who 
travelled in his carriage, that he had been pondering on the di- 
visions which would infallibly ensue, if the Lord should see good 
to make the Gospel of his grace the power of God unto salvation. 
But by whatever means the Lord is pleased to work, it is impor- 
tant to observe, how all the glory exclusively belongs to Him, 
who is the Wonderful, the Counsellor, the Mighty God. 

For several years before Mr. Haldane was so unexpectedly 
conducted to that famous city, through no wisdom or foresight of 
his own, some smoking embers had been collected, and some 
sparks of light already kindled amidst the darkness of its spiritual 
apostasy. Even so early as 1810, MM. Empeytaz, Bost, and a 
few other youthful but earnest inquirers after truth, had become 
impatient of the wretched food supplied by their spiritual pastors, 
and instituted a reunion, called " La Societe des Amis." " They 
knew," says M. Guers, " the way of salvation very imperfectly," 
but it is impossible to read the close of the First Annual Report, 
written by M. Empeytaz, without seeing that he, at least, had 
even then been led to soar far above the chilling mists of Socmi- 
anism, and to feel somewhat of ; the same adoring love, which 
burned in the heart of the convinced Thomas, when he fell at the 
feet of Jesus, exclaiming, " My Lord, and my God !" But this 
little Society was frowned upon by the Arian clergy, and had. 



382 GENEVA IN 1816. 

in 1814, even ceased to exist. Its more seriously-disposed mem- 
bers, in quest of spiritual nourishment, joined themselves to a 
little Moravian flock, possessing exacter notions of the truth as 
it is in Jesus. " Still," continues M. Guers, in his interesting Life 
of Henri Pyt, " the time of the pure light had not arrived, either 
for him or many of his friends. It was only for them the twilight 
of the Gospel day." In 1813, Madame Krudener had induced 
M. Empeytaz to enter her household as chaplain, but her own 
views of Divine truth were very indistinct, and, in some respects, 
visionary. At the beginning of 1816 a pious English or Welsh 
mechanic (industriel), of the Calvinistic-Methodist persuasion, es- 
tablished himself on the ruins of the ancient convent of Kive, 
where, for the first time, the Keformation had been proclaimed, 
in 1534, by William Farel. There a few of the defunct Societe 
des Amis met this good man, whose name was Eichard Wilcox, 
and conversed with him about the deep things of God, but, 
according to M. Gruers, Wilcox seems to have insisted chiefly on 
the eternal love of the Father, and on the certainty of the salva- 
tion of the elect, " elevating the building, without taking sufficient 
care to lay the foundation." In short, he appears to have un- 
wisely directed his preaching exclusively to the elect, instead of 
adopting the scriptural proclamation of the Gospel, which, leaving 
secret things to God, is like the fan in the hand of the husband- 
man, separating the wheat from the chaff, revealing pardon only 
to faith, which is the gift of God, but declaring even to the vilest 
of sinners, " Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life 
freely." M. Guers adds, " whilst he strengthened those who knew 
the Gospel a little better than their brethren, he did not open to 
others the gate of salvation." 

These earnest inquirers were, however, feeling after truth, and 
for some time used to hold in concert a sort of agape, or love- 
feast, after the manner of the early Christians, which was termed 
Le Rep as des douzes (the repast of the twelve), on account of the 
number who gathered round the board, and conversed about 
the things that belonged to their eternal peace. 

Thus it was, that by all these means the Lord was opening the 
way for another of his servants, a deeply experienced and estab- 
lished Christian — one who was strong in faith, mighty in the 
Scriptures, full of zeal for Christ, well instructed in the relative 
proportions of the doctrines of the Gospel, and able rightly to 
divide the Word of truth. Mr. Haldane was conducted to the 



M. HENRI EMPEYTAZ. 383 

place at the right time. M. Empeytaz, one of the leaders of the 
little band, had quitted the field of his unequal combat, with a 
consistory determined to crnsh him. His colleague, M. Bost, had 
assumed the post of Suffragan Pastor at Moutiers Grand Yal, in 
the Canton of Berne, so that his genius and piety no longer 
"electrified" his young friends by "his noble aspirations after 
God and holiness." "Wilcox, the humble artisan, was himself 
leaving Geneva, no more to encourage these inquirers by raising 
them to the contemplation of the eternal love of the Father. But 
the prayers of those who were hungering and thirsting after 
righteousness were graciously answered, and the instructor for 
whom they were anxiously supplicating the throne of grace, had 
been actually brought, "by a way which he knew not," to prove 
to them a messenger of everlasting peace, and not only to them, 
but to many others in Geneva. 

Nearly contemporaneous with the arrival of Mr. Halclane, was 
the publication of "Considerations on the Divinity of Jesus 
Christ," by Henri Empeytaz, a pamphlet which appeared about 
the middle of November, 1816.* Falling amongst the students 
of theology, to whom it was addressed, it produced great excite- 
ment, and "an impression difficult to describe." The students, 
siding with the pastors, assembled in the grand hall of the con- 
sistory, and choosing for their president one of their own num- 
ber, — himself destined to receive the Gospel from Mr. Haldane, 
and to become an illustrious champion of the faith, — addressed 
to the Venerable Company a letter, in which they solemnly pro- 
tested against what, in their ignorance, they termed the " odious 
aggression" of the "calumnious" pamphlet of M. Empeytaz. The 
state of the students may be judged of from two facts — first, that 
M. Henri Pyt and M. Guers were the only individuals amongst 
them who refused to sign this anti-christian protest ; and, next, 
that their chosen president was no other than M. Merle D' Aubigne. 

The arrival of Mr. Haldane has been already mentioned in his 
own simple narrative. The following are the more glowing 
terms in which it is described by the pious biographer of Henri 
Pyt:- 

"The English friend mentioned above, departed in January, 1817, leaving 
his brethren hungering after a better acquaintance with the counsels of God. 
But at that very moment, the Lord, touched by their prayers, sent them one of 

* " Histoire Veritable des Momiers des Geneve," anonymous, but written by M. 
Empeytaz, 1824. 



384: TESTIMONY TO MR. HALDAXE. 

his most eminent servants. Richard Wilcox had not quitted our walls, before 
Robert Haldane was within our gates. The chosen instrument in the hands of 
God to confirm the faith of Pyt and his friends, he was destined to become the 
source of blessings to many others. In a very short time a striking revival, 
effected by his means, was manifested in the school (l'auditoire) of theology. 
Around the venerable Haldane, their true professor, there gathered habitually 
more than twenty pupils of that auditory, converted (alteres) by the instruc- 
tions of that blessed Word, which they began immediately to distribute at 
Geneva, or at a later period to carry to neighboring countries, — and amongst 
the latter may be named Henri Pyt, Jean Guillaume Gonthier, Charles Rieu, 
who died pastor at Frederica, in Denmark. It was on Thursday, the 6th Feb- 
ruary, 1817, that Mr. Haldane undertook to read and explain to them the Epistle 
of St. Paul to the Romans.* ' He knew the Scriptures,' says Pyt, ' like a 
Christian who has had for his Master the same Holy Spirit by whom they were 
dictated.' He spoke in English ; first M. Rieu, then M. Fred. Monod. of Paris, 
or M. James, of Breda, interpreted. Never, we venture to say, since the days 
of Francis Turretine, and Benedict Pictet, of holy and happy memory, — never 
had any doctor expounded the whole counsel of God with such purity, force, 
and fullness — never had so bright a luminary shone in the city of Calvin." 

The student of theology who came to Mr. Haldane's hotel, and 
was the unconscious means of detaining him at Geneva, little 
thought how he was then employed as the messenger of grace, 
both for himself and others. It was M. James, now French pastor 
of Breda. The other whom he brought with him was M. Charles 
Eieu, whose brief but brilliant career, and triumphant death-bed, 
are associated with the history of the Church of Christ. The 
letter to Mr. Bickersteth proceeds : — 

" The two students with whom I first conversed brought six 
others in the same state of mind with themselves, with whom I 
had many and long conversations. Their visits became so fre- 
quent, and at such different hours, that I proposed they should 
come altogether, and it was arranged that they should do so three 
times a week, from six to eight o'clock in the evening. This 
gave me time to converse with others, who, from the report of 
the students, beg^n to visit me, as well as leisure to prepare what 
might be profitable for their instruction. I took the Epistle to the 
Romans as my subject ; and this portion of Scripture I continued 
to expound to them during the winter, and to dilate on the 
great doctrines which it unfolds. 

" After having proceeded in this manner about a fortnight with 

* It is presumed that this date refers to the time when Mr. Haldane recommenced 
his expositions for the benefit of those who had not begun to attend with the eight 
original students. 



MR. HALDANE AT GENEVA. 385 

these eight students, I was earnestly solicited, in the name of the 
other students, to begin anew, in which case I was assured that 
the rest of them would attend. I accordingly complied with this 
request, and during the whole of the winter of 1816-17, and 
until the termination of their studies in the following summer, 
almost all the students in theology regularly attended. And God 
was graciously pleased to accompany his own Word with power. 
In addition to the general knowledge which all of them acquired, 
a goodly number soon appeared to be turned to the Lord. Some 
of them have now finished their course with joy, and, like MM. 
Eieu, Gonthier, and Henri Pyt, have left behind them the blessed 
assurance that they are now in the presence of God and the 
Lamb ; while others have, in like manner, evidenced the reality 
of the work of grace by the steadfastness of their faith, and the 
abundance of their ministrations. 

" Besides those who atcended regularly, some who did not wish 
to appear with the students came at different hours, and in con- 
versing with them at those times, or after finishing the public 
course at eight o'clock, I was often engaged till near midnight. 
Others of the inhabitants of Geneva, unconnected with the 
schools of learning, and of both sexes, occasionally visited me in 
the afternoon to receive instructions respecting the Gospel. 

" The impression produced at Geneva was, by the blessing of 
God, so great, that discussions became frequent on the grand 
truths connected with salvation. The pastors and professors in 
the Faculty heard of the doctrines I was inculcating, and the man- 
ner in which I spoke of their false doctrine. They began to 
preach openly against what I taught, and I as plainly controverted 
what they taught, collecting their arguments, setting them before 
the students and others to whom I had access, comparing them 
with Scripture, and laboring to refute their destructive heresies. 
They insisted that men were born pure, and spoke of the Saviour 
as the first of created beings, and I opposed and refuted such 
errors and blasphemies. They taught that the Gospel was useful, 
but not indispensable, to salvation, and adduced the case of Cor- 
nelius, as an example of a man accepted of God without the 
knowledge of the Gospel. I proved that this was an egregious 
misrepresentation of the fact, and that the history of Cornelius 
formed no exception to the uniform doctrine of Scripture, that 
there is no other way of salvation but by faith in the Saviour.* 

* See the case of Cornelius fullv discussed in vol. iii. pp. 344-389. of '•'■ Exposi- 

25 



386 MR. HALDANE AT GENEVA. 

It was not, then, by avoiding controverted subjects, and simply 
dwelling on truths common to the professing Christians, as some 
good men have recommended as the proper course to be pursued 
on the Continent, that I labored to raise up the fallen standard 
of the Gospel at Geneva. It was, on the contrary, by not shun- 
ning to declare the whole counsel of God, so far as I was enabled 
to do so — it was by dwelling on every doctrine of the Bible, 
whether it was controverted or not, or however repulsive to the 
carnal mind, and by confronting and bringing to the test of 
Scripture every argument levelled at my instructions both by 
pastors and professors. 

" In this manner matters proceeded at Geneva till the middle 
of the summer of 1817, the period which terminated the studies 
of the theological students. The pastors attempted to instigate 
the Government to banish me from thsir canton ; and when this 
proved unsuccessful, it was proposed h> the 'Yenerable Com- 
pany' that I should be cited to appear before them, to answer for 
the doctrines I was inculcating on the students. On this it was 
observed by one of them, ' Yous ne gagnerez pas grande chose 
par cela !' (You will not gain much by that 1) And the matter 
dropped. At the same time they did all in their power to pre- 
vent the attendance of the students. I have since that period 
conversed in this country with M. Gaussen, and in answer to my 
inquiry, How it was that the pastors failed in this attempt, he re- 
plied, That this was the first blow that had seriously affected 
them, and although they were anxious to adopt every means in 
their power to prevent the students from coming to me, yet they 
found it impossible, because if strong measures had been resorted 
to as the penalty of disobeying the prohibition, the students had 
resolved to leave their professors. The pastors, however, did not 
cease to labor to counteract the effects of the change that had 
taken place in the minds of so many of the students, and particu- 
larly by framing the ' Eeglemens' of May 3, 1817, consisting of 
certain articles which every student was ordered to sign before he 
should be 'consecrated,' and which were intended to exclude 
from the pulpits of Geneva the doctrines which they so violently 
opposed, and particularly the doctrines of the Godhead of the 
Saviour — of original sin — of grace and effectual calling — and of 

tion of the Romans." in the chapter on the " State of the Heathen destitute of the 
Gospel." See also " Remarks on Mr. Scott's View of Cornelius," vol. L, third 
edition of ;< Exposition," pp. 355-359. 



DR. PYE SMITH'S VINDICATION OF MR. HALDANE. 387 

predestination. In spite of all their endeavors, the light was dif- 
fused to a very remarkable degree in Geneva, which, through the 
ministration of these Socinian, Arian, and Arminian teachers, had 
fallen from the glory which once belonged to it, and instead of 
being the centre of illumination to Protestant Europe, had be- 
come a synagogue of Satan and a citadel of ignorance and 
darkness. 

"In my 'Letter to M. Cheneviere, Professor of Theology at 
Geneva,' which I published both in English and in French, in the 
year 1824, which he never attempted to answer, you will find 
other details connected with the foregoing subjects." 

Professor Cheneviere, a few years later, in his " Summary of 
the Theological Controversies which have of late years agitated 
Geneva," pointedly attacked Mr. Haldane as one of the chief 
authors of all the agitation. He described him as a rigid Cal- 
vinist, who invited a number of ministers and students to his 
house, where he occupied their minds with the mysterious points 
in the Christian religion, "inoculated them with his own intol- 
erant spirit," taught them "to despise reason," and to "trample 
on good works." 

To this attack of the Genevan professor an able reply was 
written by Dr. Tye Smith, and published both in the " Monthly 
Repository," a Socinian magazine, and also in a separate form. 
With reference to the attack on Mr. Haldane, Dr. Pye Smith 
writes : — 

" Mr. Haldane is a man of family, fortune, and talents, who has for many years 
devoted himself, with a generosity rarely equalled, to the most benevolent pur- 
poses that can be entertained by a human mind. There are few persons who 
are more addicted to cool reasoning, or who have more correct views or more 
consistent practice on the subject, I will not say of toleration, but of the entire 
rights of religious liberty. Abundant proof that he does not contemn reason, 
but employs the processes of induction and argument in a manner highly judi- 
cious, scrupulous, and logical, will appear to any one who will read his work on 
' The Evidence and Authority of Divine Revelation,' 2 vols. 8vo. On the first 
opening of this work, my eye has been caught by a passage, which I transcribe, 
because it furnishes a fair indication of the author's mental habits. He has 
been speaking of the unhappy prevalence of unexamined assumptions and con- 
clusions drawn without sufficient evidence in matters of religion." (Dr. Smith 
then transcribes a striking paragraph from the introduction, and proceeds:) 
" This passage affords a fair insight into Mr. H.'s intellectual character. I had 
never the happiness of knowing a more dispassionate or careful reasoner, or one 
whose habits of mind were more distinguished by the demand and scrutiny of 
sufficient evidence upon every subject. A grosser error could not be committed, 



388 LETTER TO 1L CHEXEVIERE. 

than to impute to such a man the sentiment, that ' in the affairs of religion, 
reason ought to be trampled under foot.' " (P. 22.) 

Mr. Haldane's letter in reply to M. Cheneviere is in itself a 
memorial of solid and practical divinity. He meets his opponent 
point by point, giving him an epitome of his exposition of the 
Komans, and touching with a master's hand almost every con- 
troverted topic subsisting between the enemies of the truth and its 
supporters. With regard to the Professor himself, Mr. Haldane 
plainly avowed : — 

" I am free to declare, that never in my life did I hear the word of God so 
directly contradicted from the pulpit. In your exclamation, ' Ah ! are we not 
born pure V profound ignorance of the word of God was manifested, and the 
whole train of your reasoning proceeded on this assumed principle — a principle 
not more contrary to the express declarations of Scripture, the conduct of 
Providence, and the whole plan of redemption, than to the universal experience 
of mankind. And yet, Sir, you are Theological Professor at Geneva." 

The venerable Daniel "Wilson, now the Bishop of Calcutta, 
describes M. Cheneviere as " a harsh, violent, impracticable man, 
confessedly a Socinian in principle. He really frightened me by 
his fierce attack on spiritual religion." 

It may be edifying to dwell for a short time on Mr. Haldane's 
mode of teaching, and especially to follow him in his calm and 
dignified exposure of the Genevese heresies, as he contrasts them 
with the truths contained in the Epistle to the Romans. Beginning 
with an account of his meetings with the students, he proceeds : — 

" The attention which these interesting young men very soon manifested to 
the Word of God was more than I anticipated. The truth is, that anything 
like Biblical instruction was altogether new to them. The study of the Word 
of God had formed no part of their preparation for the ministry. ... As 
far as I was enabled, I endeavored to lay open to them the rich stores of re- 
ligious instruction contained in the epistle to the Romans, a portion of the 
Word of God which, on the Continent, was very generally considered unin- 
telligible. 

-In studying this Epistle, I turned their attention to the great doctrines of 
the Gospel, so successfully revived at the Reformation by Luther and his as- 
sociates, as well as by Calvin, with whose writings," though the founder of their 
Church, they had no acquaintance, and whose theological sentiments they had 
been taught to regard as altogether antiquated. In discarding the instructions 
of these Reformers, they had been led to understand that they were following 
the superior illumination of the present age. I did not attempt, however, to 
make them disciples of Calvin or of any other man, — to say, 'I am of Paul, and 
I of Apollos,' — but to bring them to be followers of Christ, to sit at the foot 
of His Cross, and to learn of Him 'who spake as never man spake.' I therefore 
appealed to no authority, either ancient or modern, but solely to the law and 



MB. HALDANE'S TEACHING AT GENEVA. 389 

to the testimony, always reminding them that, ' if they spake not according to 
this word, it was because there was no light in them.' (Isaiah viii. 20.) 

" With doctrinal instruction I connected attention to practical godliness, and 
constantly inculcated the necessity of their paying regard, in the first place, to 
their own salvation. I showed them that they must have a right view of God 
as revealed in Scripture, subsisting in three distinct persons, — the Father, the 
Son, and the Holy Ghost, — infinite, eternal, unchangeable. I drew their atten- 
tion to the character of God as holy, just, good, and merciful, — perfections 
which, in their combination, are all of them gloriously displayed in the Gospel. 
I warned them against the loose and erroneous notions so generally entertained 
concerning the way in which mercy is exercised. God is indeed ' merciful and 
gracious;' 'He delighteth in mercy;' but while justice is an essential attribute, 
mercy is solely vouchsafed as He sees good. Accordingly, to fallen angels God 
has displayed only his justice; while to fallen man he has declared himself 
merciful. (Psalm ciii. 17.) This mercy, however, is never exercised but in strict 
conformity to justice, and mercy is only to be found where justice has received 
full satisfaction. Here we were led to consider the state of fallen man, and his 
personal character as a sinner, as well as to examine the holy law of God, both 
in its perfect precepts and awful sanctions, and to see that it is only in Christ 
we can be redeemed from its curse and eternal condemnation, or born again, in 
order to participate in the blessings of His redemption. In introducing and 
dwelling on these subjects, we followed the course traced out in the Epistle." 

Having exhibited the ruined state of man, and proved that no 
human suffering, nor the sufferings of all creatures, could "finish 
transgression," or "make an end of sin," Mr. Haldane showed 
that Christ fulfilled the law, both in its precept and its penalty. 
" None but He who suffered on the cross could say, ' It is finished? 
In one word, the righteousness provided for man, which will place 
those invested with it nearest the throne, and first in the song of 
praise, is the righteousness of God." 

With reference to this righteousness, which is provided solely 
by grace, and received solely by faith, Mr. Haldane quotes the 
following words of Luther: "He who affirms the justification 
of all men who are justified to be perfectly free and gratuitous, 
leaves no place for works, merits, or preparations of any kind ; no 
place for works, either of condignity or congruity ; and thus at 
one blow Paul demolishes both the Pelagians with their complete 
merits, and our sophists (the Arminians of Luther's day) with 
their petty performances." 

The epitome of each chapter, as given in the letter to the Gene- 
vese Professor, is striking and comprehensive. Of the ninth 
chapter he says : "The doctrine of God's sovereignty is here fully 
treated of, and that very objection which is daily made, ' Why 
doth he yet find fault ?' is stated and silenced. Instead of national 



390 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. 

election, the great subject is national rejection, and the personal 
election of a small remnant, without which the whole nation would 
have perished. So void of reason is the objection usually made 
to the doctrine of election as being a cruel doctrine." 
Of the eleventh chapter Mr. Haldane says : — 

" There was nothing brought under the consideration of the students which 
appeared to contribute so effectually to overthrow their false system of religion, 
founded on philosophy and vain deceit, as the sublime view of the majesty of 
God, which is presented in these concluding verses of this part of the Epistle. 
' Of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things.' Here God is described 
as His own last end in everything that he does. Judging of God as such an 
one as themselves, they were at first startled at the idea that He must love 
himself supremely, infinitely more than the whole universe, and consequently 
must prefer His own glory to everything besides. But when they were re- 
minded that God, in reality, is infinitely more amiable and more valuable than 
the whole creation, and that consequently if He views things as they really are, 
He must regard himself as infinitely worthy of being most valued and loved, 
they said that this truth was incontrovertible. Their attention was at the same 
time turned to numerous passages of Scripture, which assert that the manifes- 
tation of the glory of God is the great end of creation ; that He has himself 
chiefly in view in all His works and dispensations; and that it is a purpose in 
which He requires that all His intelligent creatures should acquiesce, and seek 
to promote as their first and paramount duty." 

The charge of undervaluing reason and human intellect is met 
with equal force and precision, and the refutation is masterly. In 
winding up this part of the argument, he turns upon the Professor, 
and with his usual logical skill involves M. Cheneviere in the 
entanglement of self-refutation. He exposes the folly of the Arian 
scheme, in professing to believe that a creature was in the beginning 
with God and was God, that without him nothing was made that 
was made, and consequently that he made himself 

"I did not," he adds, "instruct them to acknowledge the Bible to be a revela- 
tion from God, and at the same time to consider themselves at liberty to sit in 
judgment on its contents. But I showed them the folly and daring impiety of 
summoning their Creator to the bar of their reason, and of receiving or rejecting 
the different parts of His word, according to its proved decisions. I taught 
them that being convinced that 'all Scripture is given by inspiration of God,' 
(2 Tim. iii. 16) they ought to search it with diligence, to study it with prayer, 
that God would open their eyes to behold the wondrous things which it con- 
tains, and to use them as rules of obedience, and as motives and encouragements 
in the exercise of it; and in things evidently mysterious, to bow in humble sub- 
mission to the divine teaching, and to receive with adoring faith and love what 
they could not comprehend. In one word, I reminded them of the declaration 
of the apostle, which it would be well for you to ponder : ' The weapons of our 



MYSTERIES OF REVELATION. 391 

warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong, 
holds ; casting down reasonings, and every high thing that exalteth itself against 
the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience 
of Christ,' (2 Cor. x. 4.)" 

Having thus informed the Professor of the doctrine which he 
taught, Mr. Haldane, referring to the charge of having occupied 
the minds of the students "with the mysterious points" of Chris- 
tianity, thus proceeds: — 

" Turning the attention of the ministers and students in the above manner to 
this instructive part of the Word of God, I occupied their minds, as you assert, 
with ' the mysterious doctrines of the Christian religion.' I did this in the full 
conviction that they are conducive, in the highest degree, to the interests of 
holiness, and that in no respect do they interfere with the responsibility of man. 
It is the doctrine of Divine revelation, rather than its precepts, which furnishes 
the chief means of advancing holiness. Love to God is not so much excited 
by the precept, ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,' as by the discoveries of the 
excellences of His character, and of the abundance of His grace. 

" When the apostle Paul had, in the first eleven chapters of this Epistle, 
dwelt at such length on the glorious and mysterious doctrines of Divine revela- 
tion, he looked back on the whole with mingled astonishment and delight. 
Under the impression of these feelings, he exclaims, 'O the depth, both of the 
wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments, and his 
ways past finding out.' Far from judging as you do, that Christians have noth- 
ing to do with 'the mysteries,' he delighted to expatiate on them ; he designates 
them ' the mercies of God;' and all his exhortations to practical duty are con- 
stantly founded on them. The distinguishing character which he assumes to 
himself and his fellow-laborers, is that of ' ministers of Christ, and stewards of 
the mysteries of God' (1 Cor. iv. 1.)" 

Another charge advanced by M. Cheneviere was, that Mr. Hal- 
dane had inculcated them with his own exclusive, intolerant spirit. 
On this point he replies: — 

"1 shall deal with you as frankly as I have done in regard to the mysterious 
doctrines of religion. On the subject of what you call an exclusive spirit, I 
hold a very decided opinion. While errors in religion are endless, I am con- 
vinced that there is but one exclusive system of Divine truth, but one founda- 
tion which God has laid in Zion, but one name under heaven given among men 
by which we can be saved, — the name of Jesus, the great Mediator. Hence a 
mistake concerning his person as God and man will, if persisted in, prove fatal. 
This I inculcated on the students to the utmost of my power. But I am also 
aware that the apostle Paul, in the very place where he affirms that other foun- 
dation can no man lay than that is laid, has also declared that on this founda- 
tion different materials may be built, so that many errors may exist in the mind 
of one who holds the fundamental saving truth. You will accordingly find 
this sentiment fully expressed in my (French) Commentary, vol. i. p. 18, where 
it is denied that Arians and Trinitarians can both of them be Christians. 



392 SABBATH DESECRATION. 

" Besides an exclusive spirit, you impute tc me an intolerant spirit. As to 
toleration respecting differences of opinion among Christians in articles not 
fundamental, I taught a system the very opposite to intolerant. To this I was 
directly led by the consideration of the fourteenth and part of the fifteenth 
chapters of the Romans. You will find a long article in my Commentary, 
which carries forbearance towards all Christians, as far as the Christian charac- 
ter can be discerned. The whole of that discussion is summed up in the fol- 
lowing rules: — 1. To do nothing to preserve communion with our brethren 
which would mar communion with God. 2. To maintain communion with our 
brethren as far as we can do it without marring communion with God." 

These sentiments indicate what were, and continued with in- 
creasing force to be, Mr. Haldane's opinions as to the only legiti- 
mate terms of Christian communion. With reference to the 
charge of trampling on good works, he again appeals to his expo- 
sition of the twelfth chapter, in which those who are addressed 
are besought, " by the mercies of God," to present themselves a 
living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. He then proceeds : — 

"A most beautiful delineation of Christian duty follows. Humility, that dis- 
tinguished grace, takes the lead here, as in the Lord's sermon on the mount. 
Then follow exhortations to diligence in the employment of diversified tal- 
ents, — to love, fervency of spirit, joyful hope of eternal life, patience, prayer; 
and the whole is summed up in an earnest recommendation of particular duties 
to brethren, to friends, to enemies. Produce to me, if you can, anything in the 
writings of all Pagan antiquity that is comparable, in the most distant degree, 
to this portion of the Word of God, either in the practice which it enjoins, or 
the motives which it suggests to enforce that practice." 

Obedience to civil government was enforced in expounding the 
thirteenth chapter. In regard to civil liberty, he held it to be a 
great blessing, so far as it was the companion and support of re- 
ligion, without which he was wont to speak of it as little better 
than a dangerous plaything. In connection with the fourteenth 
chapter, he took occasion to prove the obligation of the Lord's- 
day. On the awful desecration of the Sabbath at Geneva, he 
pointedly remarks, — "A desecration countenanced by pastors, 
who, instead of spending the evening of the day in retirement, 
were not afraid to pass the time at balls, in soirees, or frivolous 
amusements, and at cards. It could not," he said, " be added, 
that family worship was thus precluded, for family worship on 
any day was a thing then unknown, both amongst pastors and 
people of Geneva." 

If the limits of these Memoirs had permitted the insertion of 
larger extracts from the letter to M. Cheneviere, they would have 



IMPORTANCE OF GOOD WORKS. 393 

furnished a complete epitome of most of the leading doctrines of 
the Gospel, expressed in forcible language, and placed in a stri- 
king light. Even these detached notices might appear tedious, 
were it not important to exhibit in his own words the doctrinal 
views of Kobert Haldane, and the method of his successful teach- 
ing. His sentiments were, with scarcely a shade of difference, 
the same which for more than fifty years were held and taught 
by his brother. With reference to good works, there is an im- 
portant remark which ought not to be overlooked. Mr. Haldane, 
having disproved the accusation, and asked the Professor where 
was his warrant for the charge of warring against good works, 
thus proceeds : — 

"The whole of my writings speak a language directly the reverse. The 
Scriptures declare that men are not chosen (Rom. xi. 6), are not justified (Rom. 
iv. 2, 5), are not saved (Ephes. ii. 9), by their works; that they are not saved 
according to their works (2 Tim. i. 9), but they uniformly declare that men 
shall be judged according to their works." — P. 68. 

But as a striking instance that good works did flow from the 
reception of the doctrines he taught at Geneva, he says: "It 
pleased the Lord, in his infinite goodness, to bless his own Word 
to the conversion of a goodly number of young men, who are 
now preaching the Gospel in different parts of the Continent where 
the French language is spoken. On this subject I have received 
from several of them the most pleasing accounts, accompanied 
with every expression of gratitude for having had their minds 
thus directed to the words of eternal life. I may mention one, 
as his spirit is returned to Him that gave it, who is now, I trust, 
before the throne, beholding Him, whom having not seen he 
loved ; in whom, although he saw Him not, yet believing, he re- 
joiced with joy unspeakable, and full of glory. I have a letter 
from M. Charles Kieu, late Pastor of Erederica, in Denmark, da- 
ted July 7th, 1819." 

Of that letter the following are only extracts: — 

" Sir, and much honored Father in Jesus Christ, — ... I have at 
all times deeply engraven in my heart the instructions which the Lord vouch- 
safed to me the grace to receive from you, Sir, and which opened my eyes to 
the fundamental truths of the Gospel. Now that I am called by a benediction, 
for which I cannot enough praise the Lord, to teach them, as well as to feed on 
them continually myself, I feel every day more and more the incalculable im- 
portance and the absolute necessity of founding upon these truths all other 
instructions and exhortations, if we wish that they should penetrate into the 
heart. . . . 



394 LETTER OF M. CHARLES RIEU. 

" To lead a parish of laboring people to Christ is the work that the Lord has 
confided to me at this time. Not having heard the truth preached to them for 
many years, I found them in that state of luke-warmness and alienation which 
naturally follows the neglect of the Gospel. ... I seek to dispense to 
them the mystery of godliness with the greatest fidelity possible. 

" If your engagements permit you to send me a word of friendship, will you 
impart to me all the counsels, exhortations, and directions, that you believe 
proper to fortify me in faith and piety in Jesus Christ. In my situation, insu- 
lated from all my brethren, I have greater need than others to be roused by 
salutary advices. I desire, above all, to make rapid progress in the knowledge 
of the Holy Scriptures, since these are our only powerful arms, to convince, to 
overturn, and to build up. Following your counsel, I have resumed the read- 
ing of the Old Testament, and I have there found what I did not before know 
was there, when I was less instructed in Divine truth, and when, in many re* 
spects, the veil remained upon my eyes, that Christ is everywhere in it, from 
one end of it to the other. 

" All render testimony to Him. The prophecies, in particular, were never 
presented to me with so much grandeur and so much beauty. Oh ! how admi- 
rable is this ! What perfection ! what agreement ! How is this work raised 
above all the impious attacks of men ! . . . 

" I recommend myself always to the continuance of your kind regards and 
to your prayers. It is with a very lively sentiment of gratitude that I shall ever 
remain, Sir, and much honored father in Jesus Christ, 

" Your very affectionate and devoted servant, 

« C. Rietj." 

Mr. Haldane, after noticing the way in which M. Eieu expressed 
himself respecting the mysterious doctrines of the Christian reli- 
gion, asks M. Cheneviere, — 

"Will yon affirm that he neglected good works? Eead the 
account of his faithful and laborious discharge of the trust com- 
mitted to him, by which he made "full proof of his ministry,* 
and of his happy departure from this world. In his death he has 
furnished an example of the triumph of faith, which nothing in 
modern times can be found to exceed. A young man in the vigor 
of life, in the very midst of his usefulness, in the service of his 
beloved Master, when his last illness commences, can with diffi- 
culty bring himself to believe that so great a grace should be 
vouchsafed to him, when he had but just entered on his work, 
that the Lord should remove him, and call him away by death." 

M. Rieu closed his short but brilliant career within two years 
from the date of the above letter. He was seized with an epi- 
demic fever, and addressed a solemn charge to his parishioners, 
telling them that the vaulted roof of their church would bear 
witness that he had preached to them Jesus Christ, and declaring 



DEATH OF M. CHARLES KIEU. 395 

to them the counsel of God, although with too much weakness 
and fear of men, assuring them that even to his latest breath he 
would pray for them, and calling down on them the blessings of 
the Almighty. His Journal, which he kept almost to the moment 
when he became delirious, was intended for his family, and indi- 
cates what he calls the " unutterable peace and joy" of his soul. 

" I know," he says, " in whom I have believed. I advance, with a joy not to 
be described, into the dark valley, for I advance towards Jesus, towards my God, 
towards Christ who has conquered for us. All his promises converge in one 
point to overflow my soul with a joy it never felt before. No, he has not de- 
ceived us. Happy those who have believed without having seen. I go to see 
him as he is. I see him already. I feel his hand supporting every part of my 
soul ; in proportion as this clay falls, the inward man is renewed. I go to be 
changed into his image, to be like unto him. There, where there is no mourn- 
ing ! How could I wish to make this joy pass into your souls ! But it is there 
where you will enjoy it, and it is he who will now console you ; for I am not 
separated from you ; the moment when I fall asleep here, I see with you Christ 
coming in the clouds. May you all sleep in Him ! . . . Resurrection and 
life — Eternity — Eternity with Jesus." 

But whilst contemplating the departure of Charles Kieu, as he 
appeared to ascend in a blaze of glory to the Master whom he 
loved, we must not forget the warfare at Geneva, in which he 
bore his part in the spring and summer of 1817. Day by day, 
without intermission, for many months did Mr. Haldane, in "his 
own hired house" on the St. Antoine, receive all who chose to 
come to him, and converse about the things that belonged to the 
kingdom of God. Discussion respecting the Gospel became fre- 
quent, but there was no public collision with the pastors or profes- 
sors. He heard their sermons levelled against himself, or received 
the report of them from others, and so took occasion, with as little 
of personality as was possible, to expose their ignorance, rebuke 
their errors, and refute their sophistry. "As in the presence of 
God," he says, "I spoke and acted, resolving to know no man 
after the flesh, and to give place to no one by subjection, no, not 
for an hour. These duties appear to me not to be peculiar to 
prophets and apostles, but in such circumstances to be incumbent 
upon all who know the Lord, and seek to serve him with such 
talents as He has committed to them. Accordingly I labored to 
introduce the knowledge of salvation among that benighted peo- 
ple." 

But the flame was not long destined to smoulder within the 
precincts of the Venerable Company. It suddenly burst out with 



DK. MALAN'S CONVEKSION. 

violence against a young minister, Eegent in the College of Ge- 
neva, whose genius and accomplishments had promised to conduct 
him both to emolument and renown. It was to Csesar Malan that 
the grace and the glory were given to be first to raise from the 
ground the tarnished banner of the Church of Geneva, and from 
the pulpit of Calvin boldly to proclaim, without reserve and 
without compromise, that Gospel whose echoes scarcely lingered 
within his temple. He, too, although not one of the Societe des 
Amis was amongst those who, before the coming of Mr. Haldane, 
had been roused from a state of death to some sense of spiritual 
destitution. But to use his own words, in his letter to Mr. Bick- 
ersteth, — 

" At the time I was awakened to life everlasting, I was still in darkness and 
great feebleness in almost all points, and I know how useful, how efficacious, 
under God's blessing, to my mind, to my soul, to my humbled heart, were the 
teaching and fatherly guidance of Mr. Haldane, whom, in the bonds of love, I 
honor as a father sent to me by God, and who, before he left Geneva, had seen, 
not only in myself but in numerous other instances, that the word of truth, and 
not ' tracts or addresses,' had been blessed — yes, Sir, wonderfully blessed from 
above — for the present and the eternal happiness of many souls. The glory be 
to the Lord, but the joy to that servant of Jesus and his spiritual children and 
brethren in our precious faith." 

M. Malan had been induced to visit Mr. Haldane at the instance 
of M. Gaussen. Being himself a minister, he could not with pro- 
priety attend at the meetings appropriated to the students, and he 
was somewhat prejudiced against what he heard of the Calvinistic 
doctrines inculcated. But after spending an evening with a mis- 
sionary visitor, at his apartments in the hotel called La Balance, 
he went away more favorably impressed. His satisfaction was 
increased by an incident which occurred on the evening of the 
31st of December, 1816. M. Malan was then the manager of a 
charitable Society, in which he was deeply interested, and which 
was much in need of support. Its claims had been mentioned to 
Mr. Haldane, and when he accompanied M. Malan to the door of 
his apartments, and took leave of his guest, without solicitation 
he placed in his friend's hand some gold pieces as a contribution 
to the charity. As soon as the door was closed, M. Malan, by 
the light of the nearest lamp on the staircase, counted the twelve 
Napoleons he had received, and found that they amounted to the 
very sum, 240 francs, which was next day required to pay the 
baker's bill, and the want of which was, on that very evening, a 
source of depressing anxiety. This interposition of Providence 



DR. MALAN'S OWN NARRATIVE. 397 

contributed, as might be expected, to increase M. Malan's interest 
in the remarkable stranger, and from that night his visits were 
repeated, his inquiries became more searching, and their conver- 
sations more earnest. The result is told in the words already 
quoted, and was previously announced by Mr. Malan in one of 
those delightful tracts which, published in the form of a dialogue, 
present the truth with a vivacity and point so well adapted to the 
taste of the French. In his " Conventicule de Eolle," written in 
the form of a dialogue, in answer to the question, " Were you 
then (in 1816) entirely converted ?" he answers, in the character 
of a Genevese minister, — 

* The Genevese minister. — No ; not yet. I had been in error. I had then be- 
come, as far as I remember, orthodox, but my soul had not yet been awakened. 
I had not seized upon my salvation, such as it is in our Saviour. 

" Third inquirer. — And who was it that led you to peace ? 

" The Genevese minister. — It was the honored Robert Haldane, member of 
the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. This man, grave, and profoundly skilled 
in the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, came to pass some months at Geneva 
at the same time that the friends of whom I have just spoken were there. I 
saw him at the house of one of them, and I paid him the first visit, for he was a 
retiring man, and unostentatious, who neither sought to make himself known 
or listened to. You cannot form too high (belle) an idea of the wonderful 
sweetness, the staid prudence, which accompanied all the words and actions of 
this venerated man. His countenance was peaceful and serene. There was, 
in his expression, a charity so profound, that it was impossible, in his presence, 
to condemn or judge harshly of any one. Never did he allow me to do so. I 
was young and animated by first zeal, which is almost always imprudent and 
bitter. I spoke, with some warmth, of persons opposed to the Gospel. ' Leave 
persons, my friend,' said my father in the faith, ' they are all under God's judg- 
ment, and in no way under yours. Speak to me only of their errors in order 
to avoid them, both on your own account and that of others.' How many times 
have I seen him moved with sorrow at the sight of the enmity which already 
declared itself against the Word of God. He said to me, as had also the Rev. 
Dr. Mason, of New York, — ! Oh ! if it was necessary to give my blood to bring 
over those who raise themselves against the Gospel, I would shed it.' But, 
added he, ' It is not the blood of man which is necessary, it is that of God, shed 
upon the cross.' 

" The first. — By what method did he teach you the truth 1 how did he make 
you receive it ? 

" The Genevese minister. — You know, dear brother, that it was the Spirit 
of God who implanted it in my heart ; but it was thus that the wise Haldane 
taught me. In general he waited till I put a question to him, and I only went 
to his house to hear his answers. He often made me repeat the question, in 
order to assure himself that he had entirely understood me. ' What do you 
think on that subject 1 ?' he would say to me. I gave him my opinion. Then 
he would ask me to support it by Scripture. It was thus that he convinced me 



398 DR. MALAY'S SEEMOK BEFORE THE CONSISTORY. 

of ignorance or weakness. And when he saw me perplexed by my want of 
acquaintance with the Bible, he would begin to establish the truth in question 
by passages so clear, so explicit, that it was impossible but that I should yield 
to the evidence. If one of these passages did not appear to me conclusive, or 
if I gave it a false interpretation, he would produce immediately four or five 
others which supported or explained the other, and put the true sense beyond 
a doubt. In all this discussion he would only say a few words. It was his 
index which spake ; for, exactly as his Bible, literally worn out from having 
been read and re-read, opened of itself here or there, his finger rested upon 
the passage, and, while I read it, his piercing eye looked me through, as if he 
wished to discern the impression which the sword of the Spirit made upon my 
soul. 

" The third. — But was he not a Separatist, as is said ? 

" The Genevese minister. — Never did he produce a single opinion which could 
have made me suppose so. He manifested, and with justice, a great horror of 
heresy, but I never saw in him anything which betokened narrow or particular 
ideas. Moreover, we do not meet with such in the two works which we have 
of his, — the one a treatise upon the ' Evidences of the Divine Authority of 
Christianity,' the other, at which he labored while at Geneva, a ■ Commentary 
upon the Epistle to the Romans.' The last work is an admirable course of 
the purest theology. One finds there, united with the candor of a soul devoted 
to Jesus, all the depth of the science of salvation, and the judgment, the com- 
mon sense, and exquisite tact of a veteran, prudent and accustomed to the wiles 
of the human heart and to the lies in which it envelops itself. I invite you 
strongly, my friends, to make a serious study of this commentary. I consider 
that every minister who shall read it before God, and verify, by the Bible, all 
the quotations which it contains, will have made the most ample provision of 
knowledge and of strength against the errors of our day, — against that religion 
of words and beautiful phrases with which so many people amuse themselves 
or nourish others." 

In the Conventicle of Eolle Dr. Malan distinguishes between 
his spiritual state, as convinced of orthodoxy, and the awakening 
of his soul. Before the arrival of Mr. Haldane, he had written, 
and, as it appears, actually preached a sermon that was doctrinally 
true, without exciting much attention ; and his heart had been 
warmed by the exhortations of the celebrated Dr. Mason, of ISTew 
York, who was, for a short period, at Geneva at the same time as 
Mr. Haldane, along with a young American minister, the late 
Rev. Mathias Bruen. But whether it was that Dr. Malan's change 
of doctrine was not perceived by the audience whom he addressed; 
or that the coldness of his manner betrayed the truth that his 
soul was not yet fully awakened, his orthodox sentiments glided 
over the minds of his hearers without disturbing the stillness of 
spiritual death, or appearing to awaken irritation. But when he 
was indeed aroused, and the same sentiments came to be uttered, 



EFFECT OF DR. MALAN S SERMON. 399 

before the Arian and Socinian company, by lips touched with 
evangelic fire, from a heart burning with love to Christ, all the 
enmity of the natural man rose up in arms against the faithful 
witness for a dishonored Saviour. His eloquent words dropped 
on the leaden slumbers of his audience, like bolts of fire shot from 
heaven. Pastors, professors, syndics, and private citizens were 
cut to the heart, and almost gnashed on him with their teeth, as 
Dr. Malan descended from the pulpit and passed through their 
opening ranks unrecognized, an avoided and rejected man. It 
was not in his loving heart and tender sensibilities to disregard 
the insult and derision to which he was thus publicly exposed. 
His own relatives turned away from him with mingled emotions 
of disappointment, vexation, and shame. His attached wife, not 
then, as now, a partaker of the same glorious faith, beheld him 
with a grieved and wounded heart, and, by her looks, reproached 
him with the shipwreck of all the cherished dreams of their 
young ambition. He walked in his robes from the ancient tem- 
ple of Calvin to his own house, dejected and overwhelmed, about 
to hide himself in his secret chamber. But, on entering his door, 
the manly form and benignant countenance of Robert Haldane 
met his eye, and his sinking spirits were revived, as by a cordial, 
when his hand was grasped and the words were heard, " Thank 
God ! The Gospel has been once more preached in Geneva!" 

Mr. Haldane has himself left on record the impression pro- 
duced by that celebrated sermon, which forms so memorable an 
era in the history of Geneva. Addressing M. Cheneviere, he 
says : — 

" But this doctrine of salvation, possessed of such incomparable energy, and, 
when carried home to the heart by Divine influence, accompanied with such 
signal effects ; this doctrine, which had for so long a period been unknown in 
the pulpits of Geneva, and which formed such a contrast to what was then held 
forth in its Arian, Semi-Arian, Pelagian, Arminian, insipid nothingness, could 
not be borne among you. When it unexpectedly burst on you in one of your 
temples, ' to the amazement of the hearers, ' it was like a clap of thunder. I 
shall not soon forget the astonished, chagrined, irritated, indignant countenances 
of same who were present. Many seemed to say, as the Athenians did, when 
Paul preached to them, ' Thou bringest strange things to our ears.' But far 
were those, who • seemed to be pillars,' from adding, ' We would know, there- 
fore, what these things mean, and we will hear thee again of this matter.' An 
interdict against appearing in the pulpit was soon after laid on the preacher, 
who, on account of his perseverance in well-doing, has been since divested of 
all his offices, and driven as far as the apostate Church of Geneva has been able 
to pursue him. Its language to him, from that day to the present, has been 



400 CONFLICT AT GENEVA. 

similar to that directed to the prophet of old, — « O thou seer, go, flee away into 
the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there : But prophesy not 
again any more at Beth-el : for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court.' 
(Amos vii. 12, 13.)" 

But Dr. Malan was not the only preacher who was now enabled 
to " bring strange things" to the ears of the people. M. Gaussen, 
who had been, in some sense, the occasion of inducing Mr. Hal- 
dane to return the second time to Geneva, had also been strength- 
ened in knowledge, experience, and courage. He was, indeed, 
without the walls of the city, but still his learning, his talents, 
and influence, were now all consecrated to that glorious Saviour, 
whose Divine character and Eoyal priesthood were denied by the 
Company of Pastors. Others were crowding into the ministry 
imbued with those doctrines which M. Cheneviere so loudly de- 
nounced. Two of the students, M. Henri Pyt and M. Gruers, had 
been already ordered to send in a confession of their faith. "With 
the simplicity of the dove they avowed their faith, but, with the 
wisdom of the serpent, they clothed it in the language of a con- 
fession, venerable from the fact, that it had been sealed with the 
blood of some of the noblest martyrs of the French Church. The 
professor declared that such sentiments were enough to make 
men "brigands ;" and although the youthful confessors were not 
at the moment excommunicated, yet, in a very short time, they 
were denied ordination, and compelled to preach the Grospel with- 
out its bounds. Happily there were several who, like M. Fred- 
erick Monod, obtained ordination in France. But the Word had 
gone with power to the hearts of many. The great body of the 
pastors looked on with rage and consternation, whilst those who 
in any degree held the truth, seemed overwhelmed by the oppo- 
sition which they had not the courage to stem, and did not even, 
like Obadiah, in the house of Ahab, secretly supply a hiding- 
place for the prophets of the Lord. Once more let us hear Mr. 
Haldane : — 

" Towards the end of the session, and when the. time arrived that the stu- 
dents were to be ordained, it became sufficiently apparent that they knew some- 
thing else besides the morality recommended by Heathen philosophers and 
nominal Christians. 

" You found they could do more than deliver a smooth harangue, inculcating 
the observance of a scanty morality, accompanied by the studied attitude of a 
comedian, to give it stage effect. They had begun to take him for their model, 
whose speech and preaching were not with enticing words of man's wisdom, 
but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. They could address their 



CONSTERNATION OF THE ARIAN PASTORS. 401 

hearers in a style different from the smooth language of the Geneva pulpit, as 
if all were Christians — all very good sort of people, who needed only to be re- 
minded to go on as they were doing in the performance of their duties, or who, 
at most, required some little reformation. They could tell them they were 
guilty sinners, lying in the ruins of the fall, and as being one with the first 
Adam, involved in his condemnation. But, at the same time, they could direct 
them to the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. They could 
declare to them, that whosoever believeth in Him hath eternal life. They could 
point out to them the necessity of being born again — of being washed in that 
fountain which is ' opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of 
Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.' " 

To meet the exigencies of the times, the pastors, who had re- 
jected ancient creeds and formularies, resolved to put down all 
controversy, and under the pretence of charity, peace, concord, 
and a good spirit, to banish all discussions on four topics, which to 
them were peculiarly hateful. The first was on the divinity of 
our Lord ; the second, on original sin ; the third, on the operation 
of grace, or effectual calling ; and the fourth on predestination. 
By a Beglement, dated 3d May, 1817, these articles of a treacher- 
ous peace were agreed upon by the Company, and were ordered 
to be signed by every minister before he should be allowed " to 
exercise the pastoral functions," and by every student before he 
should be " set apart for the Gospel ministry in the canton of Ge- 
neva." There was a further engagement added, which prevented 
public opposition to the sentiments of any pastor, and pledged 
the subscriber not to expatiate on the topics contained in the four 
articles, if they should, by the words of Scripture, or otherwise, 
be led to mention them. It is instructive to remark, that M. 
Cheneviere, whose "fierce attack on spiritual religion" so shocked 
Bishop Wilson, actually pleaded for these restrictions, as a tribute 
to what was called a good spirit, as a lover of peace, and as an 
enemy to controversy. 

" The homage of the heart," he exclaims, " charity, the love of 
peace — these are the key-stone of the arch to the Christian." 
The words of Madame Koland on her way to the scaffold, may 
here be parodied, and what she said of liberty might be applied 
to charity: "0 Charity! what crimes have been committed in 
thy name !" In M. Cheneviere and his fellow-Socinians, it was 
made the apology for denuding M. Malan of his ministerial and 
academical offices — for driving MM. Guers, Pyt, Gonthier, Bost, 
Empeytaz, Porchat, and l'Huillier, and others, into secession — 
for sending M. Merle D'Aubigne away from his native city to 

26 



402 PERSECUTION AT GENEVA. 

finish his studies at Berlin, whence he was called to Brussels to 
be the chaplain of the King, and to acquire renown as " The 
light of the Netherlands." 

It may well be supposed, that the persecution begun by the 
regulations of the 3d May, 1817, produced great excitement. M. 
Cheneviere himself admits that they were regarded as " an in- 
strument of tyranny," whilst "the clergy of Geneva were re- 
proached with it as a demonstration of their heresy." Many of 
the young ministers were reduced to great straits by the destruc- 
tion of their prospects. Some were at first obliged to seek a pre- 
carious support by teaching, and others by book-selling. Their 
sufferings would have been still greater had it not been for another 
providential circumstance, which will next be mentioned, and in 
which the finger of God was again visible. 

The academic session was concluded. At Geneva there was 
now a goodly number instructed in the truths of the Gospel, and 
able to communicate them to others. The names of Gaussen and 
Malan were of themselves a tower of strength, and they still for 
a time clung to the ancient Church, although by their own doctrine 
protesting against its apostasy. MM. Guers, Pyt, Gonthier, and 
others, held reunions in the place where the young Eeformer 
Froment had in ancient days opened a gratuitous school, and been 
the first to re-light the lamp of pure Christianity in the city, to 
which Calvin afterwards imparted the lustre of his name. 

" Disciples," says M. Guers, " on the Monday and Thursday" (adding, with 
affectionate recollection, Jours Haldane), " they were themselves teachers on 
the other week-days. Pyt and his friends expounded the Word with unction. 
The joy of the Holy Spirit more and more filled their hearts in proportion as 
the plan of redemption was unrolled before them ; watered themselves, as well 
as watering others, they grew in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and their assemblies were more and more frequented." 

Mr. Haldane considered his own work accomplished at Geneva, 
and the same impulse which had conducted him to Geneva, was 
about to lead him to Montauban. But there were several reasons, 
more or less acknowledged, which probably influenced his depart- 
ure. Many years afterwards, in a letter addressed in January, 
1840, to the " Scottish Guardian," he thus writes : — 

"During the whole time I was abroad, both at Geneva and 
Montauban, I confined myself exclusively in all my intercourse 
with others to the Gospel itself, avoiding, on all occasions, saying 
anything whatever of its institutions, or concerning different de- 



MR. HALDANE'S PARTING ADVICE. 403 

nominations of Christians. In my peculiar circumstances, I con- 
sidered this to be my duty, and I acted uniformly according to 
the declaration of the apostle, who says, ' Christ sent me not to 
baptize, but to preach the Gospel.' " But although this was the 
rule which Mr. Haldane had laid down for the regulation of his 
own conduct — although he was silent in regard to all the ques- 
tions which had agitated and divided the Churches in Scotland, 
he could not have maintained this reserve had he continued much 
longer at Geneva. Into such discussions he did not wish to 
plunge. His object was to replace the great fundamental doc- 
trines of the Gospel in the French Churches, without reference to 
rites or ceremonies. We shall cite once more the words of the 
biographer of Pyt, who seems to have preserved the memory of 
dates and days connected with Eobert Haldane with a pious care, 
which indicates something of the same feeling which led M. 
Gaussen to hail him as " the second father of the Geneva Church." 

" Mr. Haldane took leave of Pyt and his friends on the 20th 
June, 1817, to present himself at Montauban, conjuring them, 
with adieus the most fraternal, in all things to take the Word of 
God as their rule, and never to apply that rule except with prayer 
and mature consultations, — recommending them, withal, to shun 
noise (eclat), not to expose themselves to needless persecution, to 
be modest, exemplary, in all respects, but also to march forward, 
animated with a holy courage, and fully assured of succor from 
above. The dealings of the Lord towards Pyt and his friends had 
something in them that was remarkable and paternal. The So- 
ciete des Amis, then the Moravian flock, then the Christian Metho- 
dist, had brought them to the door of the Sanctuary. But Hal- 
dane's was the hand of the Lord to open it to them. He was one 
of those men who, by their faith, their reverence for the Bible, 
and their devotion to the Lord, have most plainly stamped upon 
their character the image of the true disciple of Jesus Christ." 

Thus Robert Haldane finished his work at Geneva. Of him, 
M. Cheneviere writes : " Scarcely had this champion left the field, 
when he was succeeded by another, not so profoundly skilful in 
his art, but much more impetuous." Mr. Haldane was preparing 
for his journey, and actually counting the money sent to him 
from the bankers, when a young Englishman, scarcely thirty 
years of age, was announced as a visitor. His pleasing manners 
and aristocratic bearing, his finely-chiselled features and intellec- 
tual forehead, bespoke his breeding and intelligence, whilst in his 



404 ARRIVAL OF MR. HENRY DRUMMOND. 

acute and penetrating glance, wit, sarcasm, and the love of drolle- 
ry, seemed to contend with earnestness, benevolence, and an ever- 
restless Athenian craving after novelty. The stranger introduced 
himself as a Scotch connection of Mr. Haldane's, but they had 
not before met since the time when Mr. Henry Drummond, then 
a little boy, living at Dunira with his grandfather, the first Lord 
Melville, used to make his appearance after dinner. The inter- 
view was mutually agreeable, and Mr. Haldane heard with delight 
of the interest with which Mr. Drummond was then inquiring 
into the deep things of God, and his eagerness, at the same time, 
to put forth his active and energetic efforts for the support of the 
Gospel. The occasion of Mr. Drummond's arrival at Geneva had 
in it also something providential. Early satiated with the empty 
frivolities of the fashionable world, and pressed by the address of 
our Lord to the rich young man, he had at first broken up his 
hunting establishment, and finally sold his magnificent house and 
beautiful estate of the Grange, in Hampshire. His plans of use- 
fulness were, however, indistinct, and he was going with Lady 
Harriet to visit the Holy Land. As the nephew of the First Lord 
of the Admiralty, he had been accommodated with a passage on 
board the frigate of the present gallant Commander-in-chief of 
the Mediterranean fleet, Admiral Deans Dundas, whose pious 
mother, a sister of the late Lord Amesbury, was a frequent 
hearer of Mr. J. Haldane, and a member of Dr. Innes's Church, 
r n Edinburgh. 

Standing on deck beside the Captain, just as they were going 
to dinner, Mr. Drummond's quick eye perceived at a distance a 
ripple on the waters. He remarked it to Captain Dundas, when 
in an instant orders were given to take in sail, and trim the ship. 
The ripple indicated the approach of one of those sudden storms 
for which the Mediterranean has been famed, from the day when 
the Apostle Paul was caught up in the Euroclydon. In this in- 
stance, it was the means of sending Mr. Henry Drummond to 
Geneva. The ship took refuge in the port of Genoa before night- 
fall, and Lady Harriet begged with tears that they might land. 
At Genoa, Mr. Drummond accidentally heard of Mr. Haldane's 
doings, and of the commotion at Geneva. His resolution was 
taken. He came to Geneva, and introduced himself to Mr. Hal- 
dane two days before he left the city. The biographer of Henri 
Pyt thus speaks : — 

" After him (Robert Haldane), M. Henri Drummond came to add new bene- 



MR. H. DRUMMOND SUCCORS THE PERSECUTED. 405 

dictions to those we already possessed. He had for the blessed Pyt a particular 
affection, which he himself reciprocated. In his conversations M. Drummond 
chiefly insisted on the mystical union of Christ and the Church, and its glorious 
results. He spoke little of sanctification, although his example was sufficient. 
He was indefatigable in his zeal for the glory of the Lord. Labors, watchings, 
fatigues, cost him nothing. His simplicity, his brotherly goodness, and his 
affability won all hearts. He had not then the peculiar opinions which he has 
since exhibited." 

M. Guers might have added, that Mr. Drummond's great wealth 
and boundless liberality made him to the persecuted ministers, a 
wall of defence against the bigoted zeal of the Consistory. Taking 
up his abode at the beautiful hotel of Secheron, beyond the walls 
of the town, his apartments were open to all who were interested 
in the Gospel, and chose to visit him. The Company had hoped 
that, in getting rid of Mr. Haldane, they were going to enjoy an 
easy victory, but the zeal, the energy, the liberality, the chival- 
rous generosity of Mr. Drummond filled them with despair. They 
appointed a deputation to go to Secheron, and remonstrate with 
Mr. Drummond. In a recent letter of M. Gaussen, he thus 
writes : — 

" I was the occasion, without intending of it, of that visit to M. Drummond. 
Your uncle was on the point of departing, when, at a sitting of the Venerable 
Company, they were loudly inveighing against him in very injurious language. 
• Sirs,' said I, ' Mr. Haldane is not only a man profoundly versed in Scriptures, 
he is also a gentleman. Send to him a deputation. State your complaints, and he 
will reply to you. He never speaks against you personally to the students ; he 
only instructs them in the Holy Scriptures, but the language which is here tole- 
rated him is beneath the dignity of this assembly.' It was this that occasioned the 
deputation to go to Mr. Drummond, who arrived the same week in which your 
uncle left, and seemed to have been expressly sent to replace him. The Con- 
sistory had intended M. Ferriere, late pastor in London, to be of the deputa- 
tion, but, without authority, he caused M. Cheneviere to go as his substitute. 
Your uncle, during his visit, was chiefly occupied with the students. His 
apartment was filled with them, and the lectures of the professors were de- 
serted. Inde ircc." 

The deputation thus despatched, consisting of MM. Pictet and 
Cheneviere, found Mr. Drummond in the garden of the hotel at 
Secheron, in conversation with a friend. M. Cheneviere, with 
a manner more resembling that of a dancing-master than a 
professor of divinity, pompously demanded if he were going to 
teach the same doctrines as Mr. Haldane, and Mr. Drummond, 
with consummate address, baffled the impertinent inquirer, by re- 
questing an exposition of Mr. Haldane's doctrines. In the sequel, 



406 MR. DRUMMOND'S ZEAL. 

the deputation returned in a rage. A violent letter of remon- 
strance was met by a reply which added fuel to the flame. In a 
Genevese newspaper, of the 5th of September, 1717, it is de- 
scribed as a letter in which Mr. Drummond dared to treat the 
Venerable Company as heretics and blasphemers of the name of 
Christ. Mr. Drummond was summoned to appear before the 
Council of State, and after an interview, which was- intended to 
intimidate, and in which he was required to suppress his letter, he 
removed his quarters from S^cheron into the French territory at 
Ferney Voltaire, where, at a villa, called Campagne Pictet, in 
sight of the irate Company and their supporters, he remained at 
a time when his countenance and support were of the greatest 
consequence to the Christians suffering under their Arian per- 
secutors. Mr. Drummond published his Letter, addressed to the 
Pastors. "It was," says M. Gaussen, "very well done," and dis- 
played the same brilliant talent and manly courage which he has 
since evinced in his exposure of Cardinal Wiseman and the 
Jesuits, qualities which only deepen our regret, that they have 
not always been guided by equal stability of purpose, consistency 
of scriptural doctrine, and right judgment touching the things 
that pertain to the kingdom of God. One of Mr. Drummond's 
first efforts was to restore Martin's ancient version of the Bible, 
instead of that which the Arian clergy had corrupted by false 
translations. The Genevese Consistory were filled with alarm, 
and spread the report that the new sect were about to publish a 
translation favorable to their own peculiar notions. This misrep- 
resentation Mr. Drummond repelled in the newspaper where it 
appeared. After intimating how easily he could expose the Ari- 
anism of the Consistory, and prove that those who deny the Deity 
of our Lord are blasphemers, he goes on to say, that the assertion 
that he was about to publish a new translation of the Bible, was 
" a calumnious intrigue of those who feared that in a little time 
the pretended Bible of Geneva would be consigned to its proper 
place, amongst the heretical books." " I fear," he adds, " all new 
versions, where there have been others long received, and I abhor 
that of the Arians of Geneva as well as that of the Socinians of 
England." " In proportion as the Bible is known, the Church is 
sound, and the people moral. In proportion as the Bible is con- 
cealed, the Church is corrupt, and its members perverted." 

If Robert Haldane, after his experience in Scotland, shrunk 
from new discussions on Church polity at Geneva, the sanguine 



MR. L>R UMMOND'S ZEAL. 407 

temperament of Henr y Drummond made up for his backwardness. 
He encouraged the rejected ministers to form themselves into a 
Church, and seeing that M. Malan was not likely long to hold his 
place, he was entreated at once and finally to break with the Arian 
Consistory, and take the oversight of the flock, who were ready 
to gather round him. At the same time, the offer of an annuity, 
which would have secured the independence of M. Malan and his 
wife, was offered and declined. The offer was as creditable to the 
generosity of those who made it, as the refusal to the disinterested 
integrity of Dr. Malan. He assigned as the reason, that he de- 
sired to be dependent on none but God, and to this determination 
he has adhered. MM. Mejanel, Gonthier, and Pyt, finally ac- 
cepted the joint office, "and the Gospel made new converts from 
week to week." 

On the 21st of September, 1817, just three months after the 
departure of Mr. Haldane, the Lord's Supper was administered 
for the first time out of the Arian Church of Geneva : — 

" It was at the house of Mr. Drummond," says M. Guers, " and it was Dr. 
Malan who officiated. It was a meeting of ten, of whom, at least, seven bear 
distinguished names. Besides the two just mentioned may be named, Pyt, Meja- 
nel, Gonthier, Guers, and Christopher Burchhardt, the missionary, who, in 1818, 
died at Aleppo, in the bloom of youth, and in the midst of his usefulness. It 
reminded us," says M. Guers, " of another supper, that which, in the year 1536 
another disciple of Jesus, M. Jean Guerin, distributed to some pious souls, as- 
sembled in the garden of Stephen Dadaz, at Pre l'Eveque, and which was the 
first communion of the Protestants of Geneva." 

About the same time another of Mr. Haldane's converts, the 
excellent M. Du Yivier, preached a sermon in the oratory of Ca- 
rouge, in which he asserted the divinity of our Lord, the total 
corruption of human nature, and the doctrine of the atonement. 
The discourse was denounced as " scandalous" by the Company, 
and to prevent a "similar disorder," they decided that no student 
should be allowed to preach, unless his discourse had been sub- 
mitted to three professors, one of whom was to be the lynx-eyed 
and violent M. Cheneviere. 

Shortly afterwards M. Mejanel was banished as a Frenchman, 
but M. Empeytaz, about the same time returned from Germany. 
It would be out of place to pursue the history of the progress of 
the revival of true Christianity at Geneva, down to the period 
when the last ornament of this once glorious Church was re- 
moved, and M. Gaussen being deposed in 1831, became one of 



408 ME. HALDANES PRUDENCE. 

the founders of the Evangelical School of Theology, along with 
Merle D'Aubigne and Galland. Soon after, Dr. Malan obtained 
a new chapel, although it was, unfortunately, without the walls, 
and not favorably situated for a permanent congregation. The 
cost of the building was about 850/., of which a considerable 
proportion was provided out of the money obtained by M. Malan 
for his writings and his pupils.* Afterwards the oratory was 
provided for the Church, in connection with the Evangelical 
School and the Evangelical Society of Geneva, an institution 
which boasts of ministers and professors, whose abilities and 
faithfulness it would be difficult to overrate. But these matters 
belong to the history of the Church, and not to the lives of indi- 
viduals. It was, however, necessary, to prevent the repetition 
of mistakes that have been made, to show that Mr. Haldane's 
career was very different from Mr. Drummond's ; and that, whilst 
Mr. Drummond's services in a time of need deserve to be holden 
in perpetual remembrance, Mr. Haldane's mission was restricted 
to the preaching of the Gospel, without reference to ecclesiastical 
polity or rites and ceremonies. 

On this matter it is almost superfluous to add the conclusive 
evidence of M. Gaussen, who thus writes: — "His wisdom at Ge- 
neva was indicated by the sobriety of his language, and by the 
pre-eminence he assigned to all that was essential. He was him- 
self a Baptist, but never did I hear him utter a word on the sub- 
ject. I have been told that our brother, M. Guers, after he too 
had become a Baptist, wrote to him, ' We have baptized two per- 
sons,' and that your uncle replied, £ I should have been much 
better pleased had you written that you had converted two per- 
sons.' " 

In speaking of the revival of religion at Geneva, a well-known 
American, Dr. Cheever,f after describing the proceedings of Mr. 
Haldane, thus writes: — 

* There were those who grieved to think that their persecution had not crushed 
Dr. Malan, under the weight of poverty, and M. Cheneviere maliciously circulated 
the report, that the gates of fortune had been opened to him by his Methodism. 
This report, notwithstanding its origin, at one time obtained belief amongst Chris- 
tian travellers passing through Geneva. There is no doubt that, to use the words 
of Dr. Pye Smith, " M. Malan's spotless character, rare talents, distinguished at- 
tainments, and amiable manners, were such as to hold out the promise of advance- 
ment, in whatever situation he might be placed, and it might be allowable to ex- 
press the wish, that the report had been as true as it is notoriously the reverse." 

f " Wanderings of a Pilgrim in the Shadow of Mont Blanc."j By George B. 
Cheever, D.D. 1845. 



DR. CHEEVER'S ACCOUNT OF M. MERLE D'AUBIGNE. 409 

"This was a most remarkable movement of Divine Providence, one of the 
most remarkable to be found on record. What renders it more astonishing, is 
the fact, that Mr. Haldane, at first, was obliged to converse with these students 
through an interpreter, in part at least, so that he could not then have conveyed 
to them the full fervor of his feelings, nor the fire of the truth, as it was burn- 
ing in his own soul. Nevertheless, these singular labors, under circumstances 
so unpromising, were so blessed by the Divine Spirit, that sixteen out of eighteen 
young men, who had enjoyed Mr. Haldane's instructions, are said, by Dr. Heugh, 
to have become subjects of Divine grace. And among the students thus brought 
beneath the power of the Word of God, was the future historian of the Refor- 
mation, young Merle D'Aubigne. ... At this juncture it was that D'Au- 
bigne heard of the visit of Mr. Haldane. He heard of him as the English or 
Scotch gentleman who spoke so much about the Bible, a thing which seemed 
very strange to him and the other students, to whom the Bible was a shut book. 
He afterwards met Mr. Haldane at a private house, along with some other friends, 
and heard him read from an English Bible, a chapter from the Epistle to the 
Romans, concerning the natural corruption of man, a doctrine in regard to which 
he had never before received any instruction. He was astonished to hear of 
men being corrupt by nature, but clearly convinced by the passages read to 
him, he said to Mr. Haldane, ' Now I do indeed see this doctrine in the Bible.' 
4 Yes,' replied the good man, ' but do you see it in your heart V It was but a 
simple question ; but it came home to his conscience. It was the sword of the 
Spirit; and from that time he saw and felt that his heart was indeed corrupted, 
and knew from the Word of God, that he could be saved by grace alone, in 
Christ Jesus. Felix Neff, that Alpine missionary of apostolic zeal and fervor, 
was another of these young converts. Never was the seed of the Gospel sown 
to better effect than in these hearts. Such an incursion of Divine grace into 
the very citadel of error, was anything but acceptable to its guardians ; but how 
could they resist it 1 Who knows how to shut the heart when God opens it ? 
What Venerable Company of pastors can stand before the door, and keep out 
the Divine Spirit, when He chooses to enter ? The strong man armed must 
give up his house, when a greater than he comes upon him. ... It was 
of God, that Mr. Haldane should visit Geneva at that time." 

Dr. Cheever mentions Felix Neff as one of those who received 
the Gospel from Mr. Haldane's lips. This, however, was not ex- 
actly the case. Neff was, like many others, what has been termed 
his grandson, rather than his son in the faith. The Gospel sounded 
out from Geneva, and its echoes reverberated through the moun- 
tains and valleys of Switzerland, till they passed the Jura, and 
were heard in France, in Belgium, and in Germany. Mr. Haldane 
seemed to have on his mind a becoming awe in regard to the work 
in which he had been only an instrument in the Lord's hand. He 
seldom spoke of these conversions, and never, but under a sol- 
emnized impression, and for some good end. 

It does not appear from what source of information the late able 



410 M. GAUSSEN'S ACCOUNT OF THE REVIVAL. 

and excellent Dr. Heugh, of Glasgow, got the statement, repeated 
by Dr. Cheever, that sixteen out of eighteen students were brought 
to Christ during Mr. Haldane's residence at Geneva. The num- 
ber of the students who attended was not, however, eighteen, but 
"about twenty-five in all," according to M. Guers. MM. Merle 
D'Aubigne, F. Monod, C. Eieu, Gonthier, H. Pyt, Vivien, Bonifas 
(de Grenoble), Du Pasquier, Du Yivier (d' Angers), and James, 
were amongst the number. But respecting all who listened to 
his expositions of the Eomans, during three evenings of the week, 
and conversed with him in private, M. Gaussen thus writes: — 

" During the time of your uncle's sojourn, almost all the stu- 
dents in theology attended (suivirent ses explications). Of the 
whole of them there was but one who did not appear to have been 
touched, but there were some of them who did not afterwards ap- 
pear to have been savingly profited. Still it is certain that the 
greater part (la plupart) of those who attended him, have become 
men eminent in the service of God. The Evangelical work at 
Geneva was the child (JUle) of Haldane ; the work of grace of 
Yaud the daughter of that at Geneva ; and, still later, the work 
in France, to a great extent, the child of that of Geneva and of 
Yaud. To Robert Haldane was given the grace to accomplish a 
work, of which the revelation of the last day will only show the 
extent. May a benediction from above rest on all his family I" 

It is one of the characteristics of the results of his visit to the 
Continent, that the extent of the good that was then done was 
but little known for many years. The magnitude of the work 
has become more visible as years have rolled on, and whilst the 
hand of the Lord is seen directing, controlling, overruling all, it 
becomes more and more evident, in the words already cited, that 
" it was of God that Robert Haldane should visit Geneva at that 
time." 



CHAPTER XIX. 

[1817—1823.] 

It was at the end of June, 1817, that Mr. and Mrs. Haldane 
left Geneva, on their route to Montauban. They travelled by 
way of Lyons, where they spent the Lord's-day, and attended the 
French Protestant worship. There, however, they "heard not a 
worot of the Gospel." Mr. Haldane sought an interview with the 
pastor, but found, as he writes, that " he had not time to converse 
with me on the subject of religion, being fully occupied with the 
fashionable amusements in which those who are there designated 
Christians spend the evening of that day." More than thirty 
years had elapsed since Mr. Haldane had visited Lyons, and ad- 
mired the magnificent site of that illustrious city, where the relics 
of the palace of the Csesars, and the tombs of the early Christian 
martyrs, alike remind us of the fading glories of this world, and 
the immortal trophies of the victory of faith. But Mr. Haldane 
had now but one object in view ; and in quitting Geneva he did 
not seek either for relaxation or amusement. There were few 
who more enjoyed the beauties of nature, or viewed with deeper 
interest the ancient monuments of Eoman grandeur. At Geneva, 
he enjoyed the magnificent scenery by which he was surrounded, 
yet he steadily declined joining in any excursions which might 
take him away from the important work to which he was at this 
time dedicated. For the most part, it was only in the afternoon 
that he walked out on the Promenade St. Antoine, with Mrs. Hal- 
dane. " With her," says M. Gaussen, " I knew that he had much 
secret prayer for a blessing on his labors.' But whilst he stuck 
to his missionary work with such intense earnestness, his frequent 
allusions to the mountains round Geneva, and to the rich and well- 
watered landscape, told how greatly he admired those glorious 
sunsets, whose varying hues lighted up the stern and icy sublim- 



412 LETTER TO MR. BICKERSTETH. 

ities of Mont Blanc, or gilded with, a softened effulgence the 
milder beauties of the wooded Jura. 

At Montauban, where they arrived in July, 1817, Mrs. Hal- 
dane having become more familiar with the language, had greater 
means of social enjoyment. She translated into English some of 
the works of Drelincourt, and other French Protestant writers, 
and she employed herself in copying for her husband, more espe- 
cially when he had to superintend the publication of his Evidences 
of Christianity, and his Commentary on the Romans in French. 
The latter was, in fact, the fruit of his expositions at Geneva, and 
may be cousidered as the first edition of that elaborate work, on 
which he continued from time to time, to bestow his thoughts and 
meditations, until it was published in English in 1834. The 
French Commentary was intended for the Continent, and is much 
more discursive than the English. It was, however, in some re- 
spects, better calculated for popular reading ; and many persons 
who had admired the richness and fulness of the French Com- 
mentary, with its numerous episodes, have complained of a want 
of interest in the more exact and critical English Exposition. 
The French Commentary, which appeared in two octavo volumes, 
was of itself a great undertaking, and more especially as the au- 
thor had but little access to books. It was therefore more exclu- 
sively elaborated by his own hands, excepting a small portion of it, 
in which he acknowledges his obligations to the sermons of Claude. 
It has not the advantage of being in elegant French, a circum- 
stance not wholly to be ascribed to the fault of the translator, but 
partly to the fact, that he, being an unbeliever, was so closely 
watched by Mr. Haldane, lest he should corrupt the meaning, that 
it is much too literal as a translation, and is full of English idioms. 
A large edition of the work was published, and many copies dis- 
tributed all over France and Switzerland. Even to this day a 
copy is given, out of a store left for the purpose, to each stu- 
dent of divinity at Montauban when he quits the College, and in- 
stances of the good it has done are continually occurring. 

The conclusion of Mr. Haldane's letter to Mr. Bickersteth con- 
tains a brief but interesting sketch of his visit to Montauban : — 

" But before I conclude, I may notice the course I was led to adopt at the 
close of the academical session at Geneva in 1817. After the departure of 
the students, at the termination of their course, I resumed my design of going 
to Montauban, in the south of France, where the Faculty for the education of 
French Protestants is established, and which is considered the centre of all the 



MONTAUBAN. 413 

French Protestant Churches. Through the kindness of the late excellent M. 
Bonnard, then Professor of Hebrew, but afterwards Dean, or Principal of the 
Faculty, I was introduced to such of the French pastors as occasionally visited 
Montauban, and by his means, and in consequence of the extensive correspon- 
dence he maintained with all the pastors in France, I was enabled to obtain 
much valuable information, as well as general circulation for the books I pub- 
lished there, in every part of the kingdom. From my valued friend, the present 
President of the Consistory, M. Marzials, to whom I was also under peculiar 
obligations for the assistance he afforded me among the students and others, I 
some time ago received a letter, in which he says : ' Many of our pastors are 
now proclaiming the Gospel, who, but for your abode among us, would have 
been preaching Neology.' By another letter from him, recently received, dated 
July 13, 1839, I am informed that every student, on finishing his studies, and 
leaving Montauban, is furnished with a copy of my ' Evidences,' which were 
translated into French, and of the French • Commentary on the Romans,' which 
I prepared and published at that place. 

" The late M. Pictet, of Geneva, whose name is so well known among the 
savans of Europe, and who had been appointed by Bonaparte one of the In- 
spectors of the Protestant Churches, — who has asserted in one of his publica- 
tions that ■ the Methodism,' meaning the Christianity, ' of England threatens to 
conduct the world back to barbarism,' — officially visited Montauban some years 
after I left it. On that occasion M. Pradel, then Dean of the Faculty, and a 
man equally opposed to the Gospel as M. Pictet, told him, with tears in his 
eyes, that ' since the appearance at Montauban of that disastrous meteor (meteore 
desastreux), Mr. Haldane, all had been poisoned with his doctrine.' M. Pradel 
publicly used the same expressions on another occasion in addressing the 
students, and thus unintentionally bore witness to the blessing with which the 
Lord was pleased to accompany the declaration of his Gospel. 

"I state these things, my dear Sir, because, as I have already intimated, the 
account which has appeared under the sanction of your name would, if uncon- 
tradicted, be henceforth considered authentic, and because it may advance the 
objects which both of us have at heart for the good of the Continent to publish 
this short record. Placed before the world as Mr. Burgess's narrative now is, 
it requires to be rectified ; and I also trust that a memorial of the Lord's good- 
ness in prospering an attempt to revive the knowledge of his truth in Continen- 
tal Europe, may stimulate the zeal of others, and redound to the glory of God, 
whom you serve in the Gospel of his Son, and to whom, in whatever capacity 
we are placed, it is our bounden duty to consecrate every talent with which we 
are intrusted. 

"I am, my dear Sir, yours &c, 

" Robert Haldane." 

Montauban was the centre of education for the Protestants of 
the Beformed Church in France, as Strasburg in the north was 
for the Lutherans. It is situated in a magnificent plain on the 
banks of the Tarn, before it joins the Garronne, and in clear 
weather commands a distant prospect of the lofty and majestic 
range of the Pyrennees, When Mr. Haldane arrived at Mon- 



414 MONTAUBAN. 

tauban, there was but a feeble light glimmering amidst the sepul- 
chral darkness of Arianism and unbelief. M. Bonnard is now 
gone to his rest, but M. Marzials still remains one of the oldest 
and firmest friends to the Gospel in France. There was also M. 
Chabrand, pastor and professor at Toulouse, and M. Lissignol, of 
Montpelier, with whom he enjoyed much useful intercourse. Be- 
sides these, there was M. De Eapin, a private gentleman of for- 
tune, who still survives, residing at his chateau at La Garde, five 
or six miles from Montauban, between whom and Mr. Haldane 
there grew up a mutual friendship. He had been a faithful con- 
fessor of Christ, even in revolutionary times, when it was a crime 
to possess a Bible, and people sometimes buried it in their garden 
in order to escape the guillotine. Avoiding interference in poli- 
tics, M. De Eapin steered his steady, quiet, uncompromising course 
through the storms which overwhelmed many others, whose only 
crime was their religion. 

In the town of Montauban there were from 6,000 to 7,000 Prot- 
estants, and in the Faculty, or College, there were sixty-four 
students. This Institution had been founded by Napoleon, in 
compliment to the Protestants, who had always been steady friends 
to his Government, remembering, no doubt, the bitter persecutions 
they had endured from the time of Louis XIY. down to that of 
Louis XVI., during the early part of whose reign the Dragon- 
nades were continued, through the influence of an ungodly priest- 
hood, who hunted down assemblies meeting in woods or in caves, 
and put to death their ministers. The Dean of the Faculty at 
Montauban was the distinguished and learned M. Encontre, also 
professor of dogmatical theology, who had previously held the 
office of Dean of the Faculty of Sciences at Toulouse, but had 
been promoted to the head of the Montauban College, when his 
predecessor, M. Frossard, professor of sacred eloquence, was de- 
posed for his ISTapoleonist demonstration during the hundred days. 
M. Encontre held a high place as a man of science, and, next to 
La Place, was then considered the most distinguished mathema- 
tician in France. In theology, Mr. Haldane found him to be a 
strong Arminian, and very indistinct in his religious views ; but 
the philosopher soon learned to regard the talents, as well as the 
piety of his new acquaintance with profound respect. Confident 
in his own powers and great attainments, he was usually some- 
what dogmatic in his assertion of his philosophic views ; and it 
was remarked, by a surviving pastor, who knew him well, that 



M. ENCONTRE, 415 

the only person before whom lie ever seemed disposed to bow 
was Eobert Haldane. They had many earnest conversations 
together on the way of salvation ; and when he finally took leave 
of Mr. Haldane, to go for change of air in quest of health, M. En- 
contre, who was then in a feeble and, as it proved, a dying state, 
grasped his hand and said, with emotion, "Je suis un grand 
p6cheur, mais j'ai un grand Kepondant." (I am a great sinner, 
but I have a great Surety.) This confession alone, made as it 
was by an admired philosopher, who had himself experienced so 
much of the pride of science and of intellect, was evidence enough 
that his lofty spirit had been humbled, that his heart had been 
renewed, and that he had become as a little child, in order to enter 
the kingdom of heaven. He had stooped from the heights of dark 
and vain speculation, in order that he might learn those two simple 
truths which he so emphatically expressed ; and, approaching as 
a great sinner to a great Kedeemer, there is every reason to con- 
clude that he obtained entrance through that narrow gate from 
which the rich in their own esteem are sent empty away. The 
strong testimony which he publicly bore to Mr. Haldane and the 
value he set on his writings, was another token that their inter- 
course had not been without fruit. After recommending to the 
students of theology Dr. Bogue's " Essay on the Authority of the 
New Testament," which had been translated into French, and is 
said to have been read by Napoleon at St. Helena, and recom- 
mending Paley, he said, "Read also, as soon as possible, that ad- 
mirable work which the learned Robert Haldane, of Edinburgh, 
now residing at Montauban, is about to publish, — a man who 
seems to have consecrated his whole time and labor and watchings, 
and, in a certain sense, all his property to the Church of the 
Lord."* 

This testimony of one so distinguished in the walks of science 
and philosophy as M. Encontre, was calculated to make a deep 
impression amongst the students in Mr. Haldane's favor. This 
impression must have been increased when, on his death, M. Bon- 
nard succeeded to the Presidency of the College. But there is 
melancholy evidence of the actual state of spiritual death which 

* The lecture was in Latin, and the words were as follows : — " Legite etiam qnam 
primum poteritis, prsestantissimum opus quod mox editurus est in lucem, Robert 
Haldane, doctus Edinburgensis, nunc Montalbani degens, qui totum tempus suum, 
et operam et vigilias, et omnia bona videtur quodam modo sacravisse ecclesisB 
Domini." 



416 MK. HALDANE AT MONTAUBAN. 

at that period reigned in the Protestant Churches of France, 
whether we appeal to the testimony of such good men as Bon- 
nard, Marzials, and Kapin, or to that of the enemies of the Gospel. 
In a letter published in a Socinian magazine, in London, by a 
Mr. Goodier, whom Mr. Haldane himself met at Montauban, this 
enemy of the Gospel observes : — 

" I am collecting all the information in my power on the state of the French 
Protestants, who, in general, are very far from being Calvinists. I have never 
yet heard a doctrinal sermon ; and, in general, I do not even hear an orthodox 
expression in the public services, if I except some vague language on the merits 
of Christ. At Bordeaux there are several demi-Unitarians, and their most popu- 
lar minister would be condemned at once, by our English Calvinists, as a So- 
cinian. ' Believing that secret things belong unto God,' the Protestant minis- 
ters in France seldom preach upon the mysteries of the Gospel, as they are 
termed. Election, predestination, justification, and the operation of Divine 
grace, are subjects almost exploded. If there remain any orthodox doctrine in 
the pulpit, it is that of satisfaction." 

But, even before Mr. Haldane arrived at Montauban, there had 
been a kind of preparation, something like that which so beauti- 
fully marked the footsteps of the Lord, at Geneva. A pious 
Moravian missionary, M. Gachon, had, in the south of France, 
been proclaiming the simple truths of the Gospel, and, under the 
softening influences of the Holy Spirit, several had been awaken- 
ed to discern their need of an Almighty Saviour. The spark 
was, indeed, but feeble, and M. Bonnard, although in correspon- 
dence with all the French Eeformed Churches, could scarcely 
point out more than four or five ministers of whom it could be 
said, with any good hope, that they preached the Gospel. It was 
under these circumstances that Mr. Haldane began his labors. In 
a publication of his, in 1829, he says : — 

" At Montauban, where I resided more than two years, I proceeded in the 
same manner as I had done at Geneva, in what appears to me to be the spirit 
which the Scriptures both inculcate and exemplify. I spoke plainly to the 
students, and to all with whom I had an opportunity of conversing. With 
pastors who came from a different part of France I entered into such close con- 
versation as led us at once to discover the points on which we differed, and then 
discussed them fully. I endeavored to expose everything false in doctrine that 
I had heard from the pulpit, and to point out to all to whom I had access what- 
ever appeared to be erroneous. 

" The pastor who, at that time, was President of the Consistory, and a Mem- 
ber of the Legion of Honor, who has since left Montauban, was one of the 
ablest speakers in France. He had a very superficial knowledge of the Script- 
ures, and opposed the Arian and certain other heresies held by so many of the 



ANECDOTE OF M. DE YILLELE. 417 

French pastors, but, after all, he did not preach the truth as it is in Jesus. Of 
this I had great difficulty to convince some whom I particularly wished to con- 
vince, and to show them that, after all, he was a false teacher; nor was I able 
to do so till he preached from Luke x. 25-28, when, on talking over his dis- 
course, they clearly perceived that if he had understood the Lord's answer as 
well as the lawyer did to whom it was addressed, which is proved by the reply 
of the latter, ' he willing to justify himself,' he would have preached a very 
different sermon. 

" He afterwards showed himself to be completely destitute of the knowledge 
of the truth. At the election of a professor to fill the divinity chair, at Mon- 
tauban, he gave his casting vote against a servant of God, in favor of an Arian, 
who had been educated at Geneva. 

'• The Lord was graciously pleased to give testimony to the word of grace, 
which I was enabled to declare at Montauban, both among the students and 
others. 

" This I have no reason to believe would have been the case, had ' I avoided 
all controversy,' and dwelt only on ' truths common to all Churches, and inter- 
esting to every soul of man,' and acted in any way to conceal or to keep back 
any part of the truth respecting the great fundamental doctrines of the Gospel ; 
or had I flattered its enemies, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when I was persuaded there 
was no peace. A general attention to the Scriptures was soon excited, and 
much discussion took place. 

" Some were turned to the Lord, and the hearts of his servants were encour- 
aged and their hands strengthened. In the letter addressed to me, of December, 
1827, by the present President of the Consistory there (M. Bonnard), he writes: — 
'Believe it, that your abode in the midst of us has been blessed to many, and 
the word of truth is announced this day in many Churches, when they would 
not, perhaps, have yet heard anything but the teaching of a fatal Rationalism, 
if we had not had the advantage of knowing you." 

Testimonies to the same effect are borne in all the letters of the 
venerable Bonnard, of MM. Marzials Pere, Chabrand, Adolphe 
Monod, John Courtois, and others ; and it was not the fault of 
the Arians that Mr. Haldane's labors at Montauban were not put 
down by the strong arm of the Government. Happily they were 
not successful ; partly because they were not themselves in favor 
with the ruling powers, being generally tainted with Eepublican 
or Napoleonist principles; and partly because the Government 
considered any form of religion as better than none. At the time 
when Professor Pradel regarded him as "a disastrous meteor," 
Mr. Haldane was denounced to the Minister of the Interior as a 
fire-brand, who was teaching Calvinism. In consequence of these 
representations, M. De Yillele, who was then at the head of the 
French Cabinet, judged it right to make some inquiries of the 
British Ambassador respecting this remarkable foreigner. Sir 
Charles Stuart, afterwards Lord Stuart de Eothsay, who was then 

27 



418 CONTINENTAL SOCIETY. 

at Paris, took an opportunity of appealing for information to two 
of his guests who were dining with his Excellency at the Embassy. 
Whether from accident or design, he pitched upon one who was 
the cousin of Mr. Haldane, and another who was the brother of 
his wife. Being told of the excitement their friend was occasion- 
ing, taking, perhaps, an exaggerated view of its consequences, 
and believing that any private remonstrances of theirs would be 
useless, they both judged it most convenient to ignore acquaint- 
ance with Mr. Haldane's objects, and to leave the French Minister 
to adopt the course he judged best, whether in expelling their 
relative, or addressing to him such a remonstrance as the Ambas- 
sador suggested might be made by them with a view to his per- 
sonal safety. But, in truth, Mr. Haldane was in no danger ; and 
it is a fact worthy of note, that M. de Villele, after full inquiry, 
declared that it mattered not to him whether Mr. Haldane taught 
Calvinism or any other », provided it was not Deism. 

During the period Mr. Haldane remained at Montauban, besides 
his labors amongst the students and others connected with the 
Protestant Seminary, and the publication of his French commen- 
tary, and the translation of his "Evidences," he was also much 
occupied in correspondence with his old pupils and friends at 
Geneva, and with preparations for the establishment of the Con- 
tinental Society, whose operations were attended with a signal 
blessing. 

Mr. Haldane's papers show the trouble he had taken to obtain 
information from different quarters as to the best means of in- 
stituting a Society, which was, in fact, formed on the model of 
his own original association in Scotland, for propagating the Gos- 
pel at home. But to Mr. Henry Drummond belongs the merit 
of having actually set the plan in motion. The conduct of the 
Venerable Company at Geneva, in refusing ordination to those 
who would not come under fetters as to preaching the divinity 
of Christ and the doctrines of grace, furnished a supply of well- 
educated, able preachers, full of zeal and of heavenly unction. 
Satan may be said in this, as on other occasions, to have been 
taken in his own snares. Whilst consultations and correspondence 
were going forward as to the constitution of a new Society, Mr. 
Drummond, finding himself surrounded with rejected ministers, 
resolved, with characteristic energy, at his own charges, to de- 
spatch M. Bost on a mission to Alsace,' — a mission which was 
followed by striking results. It was not, however, till 1819 that 



HEXRI PYT. 419 

the Continental Society was, properly speaking, fully organized. 
But in consequence of the bigoted measures first adopted at Ge- 
neva, and then followed up at Berne and in Lausanne, the preachers, 
like the early Christians when scattered by the first persecution, 
"went everywhere preaching the Word," and it may be truly 
added, " the Lord was with them." 

Amongst the first of the Continental missionaries was M. Me- 
janel, himself one of Mr. Haldane's converts, who was expelled 
from Geneva at the instigation of the Company, on the 4th of 
March, 1818. His labors at Paris, in the Department of L'Aisne 
le Somme, Le Pas de Calais, and the North, were greatly blessed. 
Another, and perhaps the most eminent of the Continental mis- 
sionaries, and one who remained with the Society till his death, 
was the judicious and heavenly-minded Henri Pyt, who was first 
employed in the Department of Arriege, at Saverdun, as a Suffra- 
gan Pastor. Some passages in his early history at Geneva have 
been already related. 

"Towards the end of 1818," says hi3 biographer, "Pyt repaired to Mr. Hal- 
dane's residence at Montauban, where he resided after he left Geneva. The 
question on which they consulted concerned the best means of propagating- the 
truth in the neighborhood of Saverdun. The conversations of the blessed Pyt 
with his venerable friends at Toulouse and Montauban, but chiefly his confer- 
ences with Mr. Haldane, exercised a strong influence on his future career. From 
that time he understood better that his position there was not tenable, and that 
the one which became him henceforth, was that of a simple evangelist, unfettered 
by any ecclesiastical engagement, and preaching free salvation from place to 
place. It was the only position in which he did not run the risk of compromising 
his friends of the National Church, and the only one which entirely satisfied his 
own conscience. From that time he turned towards the Continental Society, 
which, as a mark of their confidence, left him the choice of the places to which 
he would be the messenger of peace. ' What joy,' he writes to his friend Gon- 
thier, ' to see the kingdom of the Lord advance with such rapidity ! Is it pos- 
sible to remain idle in the midst of that devouring zeal which burns for the 
cause of Jesus in so many thousands of our brethren V " 

In another place his biographer testifies to the strong manner 
in which Mr. Haldane guarded those over whom he had influence 
against preaching baptism, or any other disputed tenet, not affect- 
ing the foundation of the Gospel. From the time when Pyt 
visited Montauban, that devoted missionary was convinced "that 
he ought only to preach Jesus Christ and him crucified, and risen 
for us." In this respect, says his biographer — 

"His views harmonized with those of the venerable Haldane, who had, how- 



HENEI PYT. 420 

ever, been misinformed by a false report to the contrary, and thus wrote to Pyt : 
' In always speaking of baptism, preachers forget their own spiritual misery and 
the love of the Saviour, and, in fact, are seeking to advance their own peculiar 
opinions, rather than the edification of the Church of God.' " 

For many years Henri Pyt was to the Pyrenees and the 
Bearne, what another Continental missionary, Felix Neff, was to 
the Alps and amongst the Yaudois. Neff, as has been noticed, 
was one of those called to the knowledge of the Lord at the time 
of the awakening at Geneva, yet not through the direct instru- 
mentality of Mr. Haldane, but indirectly, through Gonthier and 
Francois Olivier, of Lausanne, who were his instructors in the 
faith. MM. Guers, Porchat, L'Huilier, Ladam, Caulier, Calderon, 
and others of the same school, were amongst the first laborers of 
the Continental Society. Seldom has there been an institution 
which could boast of such missionaries, still seldomer has there 
been one so signally owned of God, and so little valued by men.-- 

Amongst the many instances which might be related of the 
benediction which followed Mr. Haldane's labors at Montauban, 
there is one which he has himself recorded. It concerned a pas- 
tor in the South of France, who came to visit his brother at La 
Garde, who had received the truth spoken by M. Gachon. His 
father, too, an old man of ninety years of age, had listened with 
joy to the Gospel, as preached by Henri Pyt. He himself was 
opposed to what he reckoned the fanaticism of the new doctrines, 
and he had even succeeded in shaking the faith of his aged pa- 
rent. During his visit to his brother, he was grieved to hear that 
brother now speak of salvation by faith without works, but on 
attempting to enter into controversy, was told, that if he wished 
to argue on the subject, he had a fine opportunity of doing so 
with Mr. Eobert Haldane. Confident in himself, the indignant 
pastor obtained an introduction, called on Mr. Haldane, entered 
into discussion with him, and finally was himself enlightened in 
the knowledge of the truth. The story is told in Mr. Haldane's 
own words. It is only needful to observe, that before the conver- 
sation, which was blessed to this pastor, another had arisen, out 
of the inquiry, what was to be his text on the next Lord's day, 
and in what manner he was to treat his subject. The pastor re- 
lates, that Mr. Haldane asked him how he could reconcile his re- 
ligious sentiments with a text which he pointed out with his fin- 
ger. "I replied," says the pastor, "that this was an isolated and 
extraordinary text." Mr. Haldane then showed me another 



CONVERSION OF A FRENCH PASTOR. 421 

equally embarrassing, and turning over his Bible, pointed, with 
the same index, to fifteen or twenty passages, all directly contra- 
dictory of what I was going to preach. Not only was I confused 
at not being able to prove my doctrine from the Bible, but I was 
astonished at the great facility with which Mr. Haldane found 
the passages he wanted. When I left him I could not help think- 
ing that perhaps my arguments were right, but that, at all events, 
Mr. Haldane's seemed to be drawn from the Bible, and I felt that 
I had too little studied the Scriptures, and had a very imperfect 
knowledge of its contents. This made me lose confidence in my- 
self, but I did not let him know my distrust. When I next con- 
versed with him, he proposed, after a few moments, that we should 
take a walk into the country." It is the result of this conversation 
on the banks of the Tarn that is related by Mr. Haldane : — 

" During my stay at Montauban, a French pastor from near Marseilles visited 
that place. Immediately on his arrival, my friends brought him to visit me, as 
they were in the habit of doing with pastors who came from different parts of 
France or Switzerland. We entered directly on the subject of the Gospel. I 
found him strongly fortified in his opposition to the grace of God ; and I learn- 
ed, that on his journey to Montauban, having heard of the discussions that were 
agitated there respecting the way of acceptance with God, he had, in various 
meetings, entered keenly and even violently into the subject, thinking it his 
duty to oppose, with all the energy he possessed, such a doctrine as that of 
justification by faith without works. That question, among many others, we 
discussed fully at our first and subsequent interviews; and I had not encoun- 
tered one who appeared more decidedly hostile to the truth as it is in Jesus, al- 
though he was not an Arian or Socinian, but one who professed to believe in 
the divinity of Christ. I met him one evening, and proposed that we should 
walk out together. We immediately entered, as usual, into a discussion re- 
specting the Gospel, each of us maintaining his own sentiments on the subject. 
At length I began to speak to him on that all-important declaration of the Lord 
on the cross, ' It is finished] and endeavored to show from that expression, that 
everything necessary for a sinner's acceptance with God was already accom- 
plished, and that Christ is the end (the ' finishing' or accomplishment) of the 
law for righteousness to every one that believeth. I had not spoken but a few 
minutes, when it pleased God, in infinite goodness and compassion, to shine in 
his heart, to give him the light of the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus 
Christ. He suddenly stopped, and, with extended arms, vehemently exclaimed, 
' C'est trop grand pour etre vrai !' (It is too great to be true !) From that 
moment there was no more difference of opinion betwixt us — no farther oppo- 
sition on his part — no more objections. In Christ he was a new creature. Old 
things had in a moment passed away, — behold, all things had become new. It 
was now all his desire to hear more of the great salvation. We returned to 
town holding the most delightful communication. He remarked, with earnest- 
ness, how differently he would preach when he should return to his flock. He 



422 CONVERSION OF A FRENCH PASTOR. 

confessed, at the same time, that he had often preached on texts in which there 
was something he had not fathomed, ' aprofondi," 1 and that he now knew what 
it was. This is worthy of notice, as it discovers the unsatisfactory state of 
mind of many, who, professing- to preach the Gospel, understand neither what 
they say, no whereof they affirm. He said, he wondered that his people should 
have had patience to listen to such a system as he had been endeavoring for 
seven years to inculcate upon them — so totally different from the doctrine of 
the grace of God. When we parted, he, who an hour before hated and opposed 
the doctrine of salvation, was filled with peace and joy in believing. 

" This happened on Friday evening. Next morning he called on me in the 
state of mind I had left him in the evening before, rejoicing in the grace of 
God ; but he said, that after we parted, being engaged to preach on the Lord's- 
day, he read the sermon he had prepared, and found that not one sentence of 
it could he preach, for it was altogether opposed to what he was now con- 
vinced was the truth of the Gospel. He added, that he did not know what he 
should do, for that sermon, the only one he had with him, and which he had 
admired, being, as he thought, so well composed, he would not and could not 
on any account make use of, and that he was not accustomed to preach extem- 
pore. I replied, that I never knew a case so similar to his as that of the jailor 
at Philippi, and therefore advised him to preach on his question to the apostle, 
and the answer he received : ' What must I do to be saved ? Believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.' After pausing a few moments, he 
said he would do so. The place where he preached was at some distance in 
the country ; I did not therefore hear him, but was informed that the people 
who had known him before, listened with astonishment, wondering that he now 
preached the faith which so lately he destroyed. He spoke with great feeling 
and power, and what he said made a deep impression on those who heard him. 
I had afterwards, during the short time he remained at Montauban, most agree- 
able conversations with him, and shall never forget his prayer when we parted. 
It was one of the most affecting I ever heard — evidently the warm effusion of 
his heart — entirely different from those studied and written prayers which many 
of the French pastors prepare before they deliver them. He referred in a very 
striking manner to his conversion, and to his former and present state ; con- 
fessed the great sinfulness of the past part of his ministry, and prayed earn- 
estly for himself and his flock. 

" On his return home, he passed through a town, where he preached the same 
sermon as in the neighborhood of Montauban. It came closer on the con- 
sciences of his hearers than the discourses to which they had been accustomed 
to listen. One of the pastors of the Church preached the Gospel, but with less 
force. A flame was instantly kindled among them. The elders of the Consis- 
tory remonstrated with their own pastor in the strongest manner, demanding 
of him how he could have allowed a man bringing such doctrines to preach for 
him. He declared that these doctrines were the same that he himself preached. 
They denied this most peremptorily; and the discovery was now made that 
some of them were Socinians. They threatened to denounce their pastor to 
the Government, and, during more than three months, the greatest agitation 
prevailed in his Church. I saw several letters which in the course of that time 
he wrote to his friends at Montauban, declaring his apprehensions that it would 



ILLNESS OF MR. OSWALD. 423 

terminate in his being expelled from his charge. At length, however, the storm 
subsided, and the preaching of the p;istor from the neighborhood of Marseilles 
appeared to have done good. 

" A very different feeling was excited when the account of his conversion 
was given to his father, a man above eighty years of age. I afterwards saw 
another pastor, who happened to be at his house on a visit. It w T as truly affect- 
ing, he said, to see the old man quite absorbed in the subject, and for several 
days going about his house clasping his hands, and joyfully exclaiming ('It is 
finished,') ' Tout est accompli.' " 

In another letter, a well-known French minister, who has been 
since much in England, connected with the Foreign- Aid Society, 
wrote to Mr. Haldane, in 1825, to tell him how the pastor just 
mentioned had become, in the hands of God, the means of awa- 
kening him out of spiritual death. After describing himself as 
having been a blind man leading the blind till the year 1822, 
Mons. A. proceeds : — 

" At the above period, I went to visit my former flock at , where I saw, 

after nine years of separation, one of your spiritual children, my old fellow- 
student." (The pastor above referred to.) "He became, in the hand of God, 
the instrument of my deliverance. I then learned the great mystery of godliness, 
God manifest in the flesh ; and transported out of myself by the joy of my 
salvation, I returned to my Church, where since then the Lord has given me 
grace to render testimony to him, and to advance a little, but very little, in the 
knowledge of him." 

There was less of excitement and eclat in Mr. Haldane's labors 
at Montauban than there was at Geneva. He did not meet with 
so much of direct and public opposition, for the wisdom of M. 
De Yillele's government shielded the Protestants from persecu- 
tion, and himself from expulsion. Still the work of Evangeliza- 
tion went on prosperously, and whilst his Christian friends ac- 
quired fresh confidence and courage, many young students were 
brought to Christ, many ministers were delivered out of error, 
and the seed was sown of a future and abundant harvest in 
France. 

But the term of Mr. Haldane's labors on the Continent was 
now approaching. For more than two years his presence had 
strengthened the faith, and encouraged the hearts of those who, 
before his arrival, were overawed by the influence of abounding 
Infidelity. Mrs. Haldane's aged father, the late Mr. Oswald, of 
Scotstown, was at this time drawing near the end of his mortal 
career, and she was naturally anxious to see him once more be- 
fore his departure. Her separation from their beloved daughter 



424: MR. HALDANE RETURNS HOME. 

had also been painfully prolonged. In the hope of again visit- 
ing Montauban at a future time, a hope never to be realized, Mr. 
Haldane resolved to return home. Their journey to Paris was 
rendered doubly pleasing by the society of the venerable Dean of 
the Faculty of Theology, M. Bonnard, the recollection of whose 
simple faith and affectionate simplicity of heart was always fondly 
cherished. On the rumble of Mr. Haldane's carriage there was 
another remarkable person, not then known to fame, — a young 
converted Jew, who had lately escaped from the Propaganda at 
Eome and the fangs of the Inquisition. It was Joseph Wolff, the 
celebrated traveller and missionary, who had been recommended 
to the protection of Mr. Haldane, and it is not one of the least 
remarkable of his exploits, that between Montauban and Calais, 
he contrived to learn and speak the French language. 

Mr. Haldane was never again to return to the Continent, or 
again to meet his friends at Montauban, but their correspondence 
proves that the friendship which had been founded on Christian 
sympathy was enduring. Ten years afterwards the venerable M. 
Marzials thus writes to Mr. Haldane : — 

"Montauban, 8th July, 1831. 

"... But it was not on this account that I began this letter. My first 
thought was to ask for news of you and of Mrs. Haldane, who are always very 
precious to us. Though I have remained silent so long, a day does not pass 
without your being present to our minds, or without our conversing about you. 
Yes, my dear brother, M. De Rapin, M. Bonnard, and I, are never together 
without recalling with thanksgiving the time you passed in this town, and your 
example is still a continual encouragement to us to speak in season and out of 
season according to the truth and Gospel of Christ." 

Another letter from the President of the Consistory, written in 
1842, on hearing of Mr. Haldane's approaching dissolution, con- 
veys his matured experience of the good accomplished in the 
years spent at Montauban : — 

" Much honored Sir, — Your letter, which I received some days ago, sensibly 
touched me by the information it contains of your much venerated uncle. I 
had been without any information respecting him for a long time, and my 
Christian friends here experienced this privation as' well as myself. We have 
borne him in our heart ever since the moment when the Lord blessed us by 
bringing him into the midst of us, and the good which he has done to us, and 
which is extending more and more in our Church, renders, and will render, 
his name and memory forever dear. When he first appeared in our town, the 
Gospel of salvation was in little honor, and its vital doctrines entirely unknown 
except by a very few, who, encouraged by onr venerable brother, frankly an- 
nounced them in spite of the opposition of unbelief. But thanks be to God, 



TESTIMONY OF M. MAEZIALS. 425 

now in this Church, as in a great number of others in our France, the truth of 
God is preached with power, and without ostensible contradiction. The great 
majority of pastors are approaching nearer and nearer to the orthodoxy of our 
fathers, and many among them are truly examples of zeal for the house of God. 
I am often touched even to tears in seeing pastors, at whose ordination I did 
not wish to take part, preach Christ, and Christ crucified, with liberty of heart 
full of force and blessing. I tell you these things, dear Sir, because it is most 
certainly the fruit of the good seed sown here and elsewhere by your venerable 
uncle. Would that we could diminish the number of his years, and see him 
once more in the midst of us, with his honored partner in life ! Great would 
be our joy, and his would be great also. But your letter saddens us by an- 
nouncing that he was feebler in body. Happily his soul is full of the joy of the 
Lord. For the rest, he is one of those who cannot occasion a doubtful thought 
to any of his friends. Yes, your uncle is one of those of whom the Spirit says 
for certain, ' Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, for they rest from their 
labors, and their works do follow them.' Tell him all the affection of our heart 
for his dear person. I include M. Rapin amongst those who recommend them- 
selves to his regard : that dear friend always speaks of Mr. Robert Haldane 
with affection of heart. May the Lord unite us all in Jesus Christ, before the 
throne of his glory. Amen. — Receive, &c. * Marzials. 

"Alexander Haldane, Esq." 

Many other testimonies have since been borne to the work of 
God at Geneva and at Montauban. In the General Assembly of 
the Free Church of Scotland, M. Frederic Monod, of Paris, and 
Dr. Merle D'Aubign£, of Geneva, as well as other eminent foreign 
ministers, have all testified from personal observation to the bless- 
ing that has resulted from the labors of Robert Haldane. During 
the period of the meetings of the Evangelical Alliance in Lon- 
don, in 1851, one speaker was recommending the Foreign- Aid 
Society, on the ground that it only employed French and Swiss 
preachers, and did not send out Englishmen, when Dr. Merle 
D'Aubigne rose and said, that he for one could not accept this as 
a recommendation, for if it had not been for the grace of God in 
ordering the mission of the venerable Robert Haldane, from Scot- 
land, " I myself, so far as man can see, would not have been here 
to-day." 

Mr. and Mrs. Haldane left Montauban about the end of August, 
1819, and arrived in Scotland in the month of September. His 
father-in-law, Mr. Oswald, of Scotstown, whose declining health 
was the immediate cause of their return, died soon afterwards, at 
a very advanced age, much regretted by all who knew him. 
Shortly afterwards, the death of Captain James Oswald, R.1ST., 
and of his younger brother, Alexander Oswald, Esq., opened the 
succession of the estate of Scotstown to the elder sister of Mrs. 



426 PUBLIC MEETING AT EDINBURGH. 

Haldane, and that property could not easily have fallen into the 
hands of one more desirous of devoting it to the same objects in 
which her sister and brother-in-law were so deeply interested. 
Whilst the world was disposed to regard Mr. Haldane's projects 
only as the ebullitions of " eccentric" zeal, she knew how to ap- 
preciate their untold value. For the sake of Christ she shared in 
their reproach, and down to the present time the name of Miss 
Oswald, of Scotstown, still continues to be associated with the 
liberal support of Christian Missions. 

Yery soon after his return, Mr. Haldane made arrangements 
for placing ten Home Missionary students under the instruction 
of Mr. L. Macintosh, at Grantown, with a view to their itinerating 
as Home Missionaries in the Highlands of Scotland. But whilst 
he was not overlooking the claims of his native country, for 
several years Mr. Haldane was chiefly occupied in promo- 
ting the furtherance of the Gospel on the Continent, by means 
of the Continental Society. His personal acquaintance with 
France and Switzerland, and his correspondence with Germany, 
rendered his advice and co-operation of great importance. The 
Continental Society had always to contend with opposition, 
chiefly fomented by Arian and Neologian influence abroad. But 
its missionaries were men like Felix JNTeff, Henri Pyt, and Fran- 
cois Olivier, who, for the most part, had been confessors of Christ, 
and felt in their inmost soul that Gospel which, in the midst of 
dangers, discouragement, and toil, it was their joy to proclaim. 
Well may M. Cuers exclaim, when looking back on the fifteen 
years of his existence, " The day of Christ will tell what it did 
for the glory of the Lord." 

In Edinburgh, an active Auxiliary was formed, in the spring 
of 1821, through the influence of Mr. Haldane, and a public 
Meeting was held at the Waterloo Eooms, where he himself, for 
the first time after the lapse of many years, addressed a promiscu- 
ous assembly. He spoke with great force, and was listened to 
with the deepest attention. His details respecting the past and 
existing state of religion on the Continent were highly interesting, 
and his views as to the necessity for the combined co-operation 
of Christians, irrespective of denominational differences, forever 
swept away the false impressions which had been produced during 
the heat of controversy with regard to the Congregational 
Churches. His early friend, the Eev. Dr. Campbell, formerly of 
Kippen, near Stirling, but then of the High Church, was present, 



CONTINENTAL SOCIETY. 427 

and made an able speech, in which he furnished out of his own 
stores of information some lamentable details as to the Infidelity 
of Geneva. But nothing in that speech was so interesting as the 
allusions made by this venerable and able minister of Christ, to 
the interest with which he had marked Mr. Haldane's career, 
from the happy days spent in his society at Airthrey, when first 
entering on his Christian career, down to the period of that suc- 
cessful warfare, which single-handed he had waged in a foreign 
land with Arianism and Infidelity. The crowded assembly went 
away at once interested and instructed. None seemed more im- 
pressed than Mr. Haldane's old friend, Mr. Aikman, who, as he 
walked along Prince-street with one of the nearest relatives of 
his former associates, seemed, by his brief exclamations, to ex- 
press a new pang at the recollection of the disruption, which 
might have been less complete had he and his friends listened to 
the united wishes of the two brothers in 1808. 

During the summer of the same year, Mr. Haldane made a 
journey to London by himself, with a view to set in order some 
matters connected with the establishment of the Continental So- 
ciety. In this he was to a considerable extent successful, and 
promises of co-operation or assistance were received from several 
influential men, both of the Church of England and the Dissent- 
ers. Amongst others, he again met Mr. Wilberforce, who for 
several years enlivened the Annual Meetings with the charms of 
his melodious eloquence. Of the Continental Society, M. Guers 
writes, many years after its extinction : — 

" It was, in 1818, the first to carry the Gospel into the North of France, and 
then into the South, and then into the centre. Wherever its missionaries went 
they found nothing but spiritual death, and in the hands of the Lord they be- 
came for multitudes the instruments of life and salvation. The Society with 
courage and success passed through the reign of Jesuitism in France, that period 
of unhappy memory, during which the Government of Charles X., making a 
noiseless war against the religious movement, labored everywhere to plant the 
banner of Rome. In spite of every difficulty, the Continental Society, which 
was the only Society engaged in the evangelization of France, humbly pro- 
ceeded with its work, under the protection of the Lord." 

M. Guers proceeds to trace the progress and downfall of the 
Continental Society, which he traces to Irvingism. But he is not 
quite accurate as to the details so far as concerns Britain. In 
Paris it was always the object of jealousy — a jealousy natural to 
the Arian, Pelagian, and Arminian enemies of the Gospel — a 



428 CONTINENTAL SOCIETY. 

jealousy which was also fostered by English influence, seeking a 
pre-eminence which, in the first ages of Christianity, characterized 
Diotrephes. It was also opposed by some, who were not ashamed 
to complain of the banished Swiss as foreigners, and therefore not 
adapted for the office of evangelists in France. But it was chiefly 
opposed on a ground that artfully appealed to High Church preju- 
dices in England, and was totally inapplicable to a Popish country 
like France ; namely, that the preachers had no right to go into 
the parishes of other ministers, even although nothing but So- 
cinianism or Neology was taught. A remonstrance, embodying 
these complaints, together with some instances of trifling indis- 
cretions, was at one time got up in Paris, and signed by a formida- 
ble array of Lutheran and Eeformed pastors, chiefly Arians or 
ISTeologians, as well as Peers of France, members of the Cham 
bers, and even agents of the British and Foreign Bible Society. 
To this document, Mr. Haldane, on the invitation of the London 
Committee, prepared a powerful and crushing reply, asserting, 
from the Word of God, the right of the evangelists to preach the 
Gospel wherever a door was opened, and warning the remon- 
strants against the criminality of fighting against God, and trying 
to stop the progress of the truth. There were, no doubt, some 
who signed that unworthy remonstrance from Paris, who did so 
under misconception, and the influence of more designing men. 
It failed, however, of its object of destroying the Society, and 
the countenance which men like Henri Pyt and the two Oliviers 
derived in Paris from the Rev. Lewis Way, the Rev. Mr. Lovett, 
and other men of God, went far to neutralize the influence which 
sought to arrest its useful operations in France. But the chief 
and most formidable opposition to the missionaries sent out by 
the Continental Society was to be found in the Foreign Bible So- 
cieties, which were at that time overrun with Neology and un- 
belief. There is no doubt that in too many instances these insti- 
tutions constituted at that period what has been termed "an 
organized hypocrisy," and had no love for the Gospel revealed in 
the Scriptures. To these, therefore, the preaching of the truth 
was odious, and they did what they could to prejudice the minds 
of British Christians against men, of many of whom it is now 
known that " the world was not worthy." 

It is not necessary to pursue the history of the decline and fall 
of the Continental Society. Had it not been enfeebled at home 
through the unmitigated hostility it had experienced abroad, it 



MR. HALDANE VISITS IRELAND. 429 

would not have been left to perish in the distrust inspired by the 
errors or ephemeral extravagances of a section of its supporters — 
extravagances which did not infect its missionaries or taint its for 
eign operations. But it had nobly done its Master's work, and 
that work was subsequently carried on, first by its original Aux- 
iliaries in Scotland,* which, under Mr. Haldane's advice, had 
wisely assumed independent action ; and finally, by the Societes 
Evangeliques of Geneva and Paris, after the whirlwind of the 
Bible Society controversy had cleared the atmosphere, and by ex- 
posing the character of pretended friends to the cause of the Bible, 
left the evangelization of the Continent in the hands of men of 
God, instead of being intrusted to those who either combined in 
Bible Societies abroad, for the sake of fashion, or to attain their 
own selfish objects. 

After Mr. Haldane's journey to London in 1821, he was pre- 
vailed on to visit Ireland in the following year, with the view of 
exciting an interest on behalf of the Continental Society. He 
took with him M. Mejanel, who had lately arrived from France. 
In Dublin he met his old friend, Mr. Kelly, and other Christians 
of various denominations, both Churchmen and Dissenters, from 
whom he received every token of affectionate respect. In par- 
ticular, he had much pleasure in the visit which he made to Pow- 
erscourt, in witnessing the ardent zeal for the truth which anima- 
ted the heart of the noble proprietor, whose brief career of Chris- 
tian devotedness was soon to terminate. From Powerscourt Mr. 
Haldane went to Tullamore Park, on the invitation of the Earl 
and Countess of Eoden ; and during his residence at that beauti- 
ful place, had an opportunity of preaching on the Lord's-day in 
their domestic chapel, to an overflowing congregation, which 
blocked up both its doors and windows. In private, every morn- 
ing after breakfast, for six successive days, he expounded the 
Epistle to the Romans, to a small circle, who heard with deep 
interest those edifying and comprehensive views of Divine truth 
which he knew so well how to enunciate. Amongst those who 
then listened to the truths which dropped from his lips, was the 
late Lady Anne Jocelyn, the beloved sister of Lord Eoden, who 

* Dr. Strutters, in his history of the Relief Church, imagines that the institution 
of provincial Societies in Scotland, separate from the London Continental Society, 
was a proof of a design on the part of the Established Church in Scotland to obtain 
an ascendency. The truth was, that the separation was made in the hope of avert- 
ing what Mr. Haldane foresaw as an impending danger, the interference of Irvingism 



430 MR. HALDANE VISITS IRELAND. 

was in an eminent degree partaker of the same precious faith, 
which enriches her noble brother, but who was speedily to be re- 
moved from amongst the worshippers below, to join in the song 
of the redeemed, before the throne of God and the Lamb. Shortly 
afterwards, Mr, Haldane had the pleasure of receiving Lord 
Eoden at his own house at Auchingray, and a clergyman who 
accompanied his Lordship preached there on the Lord's-day. It 
was probably the first sermon from an Episcopalian divine ever 
heard by that congregation, who were for the most part the de- 
scendants of the west country Covenanters. All of them then 
held the memory of their pious but warlike ancestors in great 
esteem, and some of them preserved in their cottages the very 
guns which had been borne at the battle of Bothwell Bridge. 

The following extract of a letter, written in June, 1822, con- 
tains a short but interesting account of Mr. Haldane's visit to Ire- 
land: — 

" I received last night a letter from my friend in Ireland, mentioning with 
great delight a visit which Dublin had lately received from Mr. Robert Haldane. 

He was accompanied by a M. Mejanel, a French minister, with whom was 

also much pleased. Mr. Haldane has been wonderfully useful among the clergy 
on the Continent. Mr. Kelly told him, on the authority of M. Mejanel, that it 
is calculated that more than sixty ministers had been converted by his means 
in France and Switzerland. My friend says, 'He spent one morning with us, 
and we also met him twice. He spoke on the Scriptures with very great power 
and judgment. Indeed, he seems to have drank deeply at the fountain of knowl- 
edge. He is not a clergyman, but our clergy were delighted to sit at his feet, 
and they gave him the lead wherever he went.' " 

Mr. Haldane could not regard what he saw of the lamentable 
state of Ireland, without feeling a desire to do something to pro- 
mote its regeneration, and he strongly stated his opinion that this 
would never be accomplished but by means of the Gospel. He 
therefore urged that some combined effort should be made to send 
preachers into the Eomish districts, to break up the fallow ground, 
and to publish those truths which are mighty through God to the 
pulling down of strongholds. But the Lord's time was not yet 
come, and his efforts were in vain, although at first supported by 
laymen of great influence. The idea of proselytizing, as is now 
done by the Irish Church missionaries, was treated as chimerical, 
and as likely to be attended with dangerous consequences. A 
few years afterwards, Ireland was visited by another champion 
of the faith, the well-known Captain J. E. Gordon, who, in a letter 
to a friend, describes in his own case the very arguments with 



CAPTAIN GORDOXS FLAX OF AX IRISH MISSIOX. 431 

which Mr. Haldane's previous remonstrances had been parried. 
Mr. Haldane's plan contemplated the mission of preachers with- 
out reference to Episcopacy or Presbytery, just as the CoDtinental 
Society was employing agents in France. Mr. Gordon's plan was 
to have been carried out in connection with the Established 
Church. The details are curious, and worth preserving : — 

"Hadlow House, March 23, 1852. 
" The entire period of my connection with Ireland, extending to not less than 
two years, was occupied with one continuous and sustained effort to introduce 
the Reformation into that country, or, in other words, to prompt just such an 
aggressive effort, upon the part of the Establishment, as she is now exerting 
with such success in the provinces of Connaught and Munster. As that Church, 
however, had then discharged herself from all responsibility with respect to the 
Roman Catholic part of the population, there was not merely the vis inertia; 
of ignorance and apathy to overcome, but a conventional opposition to such an 
effort, founded upon the conviction, that any interference with the Roman Cath- 
olic population would be a transgression of the limits of pastoral jurisdiction. 
All, therefore, which I found it possible to accomplish, was the promotion of 
controversy, through the platform and the pulpit, when practicable, and that 
movement it was, under God, which gave the initial tendency to the progress 
of inquiry in the Irish mind. Not satisfied, however, with such random and 
partial efforts, I conceived the design of a mission, which should act independ- 
ently of local authority and local obstruction. Being acquainted with Lord 
Liverpool, then Prime Minister, and in the habit of confidential communication 
with him upon the religious and moral condition of Ireland, I proposed to him 
the establishment of a mission, under the Royal authority, upon the same prin- 
ciple as that authorized by Edward VI., — a mission consisting of a body of 
evangelical, zealous, energetic clergymen, who should traverse the length and 
breadth of the country, and occupy either the pulpit or the court-house, as 
might best suit their purpose. 

" His Lordship was much struck with the proposition, but said that it would 
entirely depend upon the degree of countenance it might receive from the Irish 
Church, and that it must appear to come from that quarter. I told his Lord- 
ship, that I possessed an intimate acquaintance with Dr. Magee, Archbishop of 
Dublin, and that I had very little doubt of his countenance in the scheme. ' If,' 
said his Lordship, ' you can secure the sanction of that Prelate, his influence 
would be sufficient to carry it through the difficulties it would have to encoun- 
ter from the Church on this side of the water.' I lost no time in putting my- 
self in communication with Dr. Magee, whose capacious intellect and active 
zeal immediately grasped and adopted the proposition in all its bearings, and 
he assured me that he w T ould do everything which his situation might enable 
him to do in favor of the design. Thus stood the matter when, in the myste- 
rious providence of God, Lord Liverpool was removed from office, and became 
politically defunct, and the Archbishop was soon after summoned from his 
labors to his rest. Believe me, very sincerely yours, 

« J. E. Gordon." 



432 STORY OF PETER HEAMAN, PIRATE. 



Once more it was seen that the Lord's time was not come, and 
that it was not until after a series of providential movements that 
the ground was prepared, and the Kev. A. Dallas went forward, 
in spite of discouragements, and was honored to commence those 
proceedings, which have silenced the cavils of objectors, aston- 
ished the unbelieving world, and filled the hearts of Christians 
with wondering joy, and caused them to exclaim, "What hath 
God wrought!" 

In the winter of 1821-2 Mr. Haldane had been engaged for 
some weeks in a way not accordant with his usual habits. It 
had been his brother's custom, and one of the instances of his 
unwearied zeal, always to seek an interview with prisoners in 
gaol, when under sentence .of death. His labors in the very first 
case which he attended, in 1799, at the beginning of his career, 
seemed to have been blessed, and there were several others in 
which there was reason to hope that the word spoken had not 
been in vain. In fact, during the time when our criminal code 
was so sanguinary, its only redeeming feature was to be found in 
the opportunity which it gave to the unhappy criminal solemnly 
to consider his state in the sight of God, and ask for mercy 
through the only appointed channel. In November, 1821, two 
prisoners, the one a Swede, Peter Heaman, and the other a 
Frenchman, Francois Gautier, were tried for murder and piracy 
on the high seas, and convicted. The vessel in which they sailed 
had on board a quantity of specie, and the captain was the only 
obstacle in the way of the crew's obtaining the prize. This was 
sometimes referred to in jest, but at last the foul deed was com- 
mitted ; the captain and one of the crew murdered ; and the 
vessel ancj. cargo seized by Peter Heaman and his comrades. 
They were afterwards all captured, and two of the ringleaders 
justly condemned. It was the duty of Dr. Campbell, according 
to rotation, to attend these convicts, and, being foreigners, he re- 
quested of Mr. Haldane, with reference to the language, the aid 
which he willingly rendered. In regard to the Frenchman, Gau- 
tier, there was nothing peculiarly satisfactory, and he was at- 
tended to the scaffold by a Eomish priest ; but, in the case of 
Heaman, there was strong reason to conclude that he received 
repentance to believe the truth, i He was a man of intelligence 
and some education, and a sketch of his life, written by himself, 
was afterwards published as a tract, "with remarks by J. Camp- 
bell, D.D., and an account of him in the gaol, and at. his execu- 



ACCOUNT OF PETER HEAMAN". 433 

tion, by Kobert Haldane, Esq." The narrative of Heaman bears 
the stamp of sincerity and deep contrition, whilst the prefixed 
notices of two men so eminent as the editors could not fail to 
attract attention. It was satisfactory to Mr. Haldane to find that 
the Judges expressed an opinion that this tract was free from 
those objections which too often apply to the accounts of con- 
verted criminals. 

Dr. Campbell's remarks are valuable, as pointing to the power 
of the devil as a tempter in leading ungodly men into crime. 
Mr. Haldane's details of the conversion of Heaman are remark- 
able as a short and comprehensive compendium of the Gospel, ex- 
hibiting the lost condition of man and the way of salvation in lan- 
guage at once clear, powerful and well supported by Scripture : — 

" When he began to converse with Heaman he did not dwell on his particu- 
lar crime, excepting in so far as it was a proof of the depravity of his heart. 
When Heaman urged his occupation at sea as an apology for the neglect of 
religion, he was told that the person talking to him practically knew the life of 
a sailor, and considered that occupation anything rather than an excuse for 
neglecting the salvation of God. Nowhere was there a better opportunity for 
reading the Scriptures, for meditating on them, and holding communion with 
God; and nowhere was there a louder call to exercise habitual dependence on 
God than on board of ship. There, too, vice often appeared in forms so gross 
as to render it peculiarly odious, and, consequently, more easily resisted and 
overcome than when it presented itself in shapes more alluring and seductive, 
because more refined and disguised. 

" The Gospel was then stated to Heaman. The atonement made by Christ 
is complete. His righteousness is applied to every individual of the human 
race who is united to Christ by faith. For the great purpose of sanctification, 
the outpouring of the Spirit is obtained through the mediation of Christ. 
Heaman was shown, in the words of Luther, that ' if I were to work to eter- 
nity on the plan of reformation and self-justification, I could never find rest to 
my conscience, for I should never be certain that I had done enough.' " 

At the end of another conversation to the same effect, Heaman 
said that he felt "lightened," and that this was "good news, 
indeed ;" and that he had never before met a single person who 
presented to him such views of the Gospel. It was after this that 
he made his confession, and, in token of his true penitence, gave 
up a sum of money which he had the full opportunity of leaving 
to his wife and family. For eight days before his death his coun- 
tenance became marked by tranquillity and peace, and his com- 
posure continued to the last. On the scaffold there was no 
hardened indifference to death, nor any of that levity and trifling 
which miscalled philosophers have affected. 

28 



434 ACCOUNT OF PETER HEAMAN. 

" He appeared," says Mr. Haldane, " to be properly sensible of his situation 
as a criminal justly condemned by the laws of God and man, and as an immortal 
creature who was about to appear before his final Judge. At the same time 
there was a dignified composure visible in his deportment, as of one who knew 
in whom he had believed, and whose feet were placed on a rock that stood 
immovable, against which the threatening billows that beat around him dashed 
in vain. 

" Part of the fifty-first Psalm was sung, and a very impressive address deliv- 
ered by Dr. Campbell. Heaman, after bowing to the spectators, confirmed the 
Reverend Clergyman's statements. Mr. Haldane remarked to him, that this 
was a large assembly, but that, in a few minutes, he would see a very different 
one, — the innumerable company of angels, the general assembly of the spirits 
of just men made perfect, and Jesus Christ Himself. He expressed his humble 
conviction that this would be the case. These triumphant words were then 
suggested, — ' O death, where is thy sting ? O grave, where is thy victory 2 
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law ; but thanks be to 
God, which giveth me the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.' " Mr. Hal- 
dane's narrative proceeds: — "He repeated them aloud, with great earnestness. 
An ejaculatory petition was put up by one (Mr. Haldane) standing by, that God 
would receive his departing spirit. He then prostrated himself on his face on 
the scaffold, and continued for a short time in secret prayer. 

" Everything being ready for the execution, he asked if he should yet be al- 
lowed time to pray. He was assured it should be granted, and a handkerchief 
was given him, as the signal, both for himself and his fellow-prisoner, to be 
dropped when all was ready. A cap was placed on his head to cover his face, 
and the rope was placed round his neck. With an unfaltering voice, and with 
great apparent earnestness, he then uttered a very suitable prayer. It consisted 
chiefly of those parts of the fifty-first Psalm, which had just been sung, that 
were most applicable to his case, and of part of the 130th Psalm, beginning, 
1 Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord ;' then of the twenty-third 
Psalm, of which he distinctly repeated, ' Yea, though I walk through the 
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil ; for thou art with me.' In 
that awful moment, on the brink of eternity, with the fatal rope around his 
neck, it might have been supposed that his thoughts would have been entirely 
absorbed in his own situation, and that, as soon as he had finished his prayer, 
he would have made the signal, but even then a proof of self-possession and 
of feeling consideration for his fellow-sufferer was exhibited, to which it will 
not be easy to find a parallel. With perfect seeming composure he turned to 
him his face, covered as it was, and said, ' Francois, do you wish to pray V Af- 
terwards he himself resumed his supplications. Having expressed his entire 
confidence in his Redeemer, distinctly repeating these emphatic words, ' I know 
whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I 
have committed unto Him,' and having resigned himself into His gracious 
hands, saying, < Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,' he threw the handkerchief to the 
side of the scaffold, in a manner which seemed to indicate that he was not only 
seady, but willing, to depart." 

The course of the narrative has of late chiefly concerned the 



MR. J. A. HALDANE'S OCCUPATIONS. 435 

elder brother. Meanwhile, Mr. James Haldane was enabled to 
hold on the even tenor of his way, neither elevated by the excite- 
ment of popularity, nor depressed by the want of co-operation. 
He had still many seals to his ministry, and, except at the very 
commencement of his career, there was no period at which his 
usefulness was more remarkable, than at that which followed the 
disruption of the Tabernacle connection. To his own success he 
hardly ever alluded, but, in writing to Mr. Campbell, of Kings 
land, in 1809, he says, " We were told that { the world' would 
leave us, that no good would be done, and that there would be 
an end of usefulness. But numbers still attend (he, doubtless, 
meant in the afternoon and evening), and we have received more 
converts from ' the world' than for four years previously." But 
the good of which he was instrumental will not be known till the 
books shall be opened on the day of the gathering round the 
great white throne. We are told that, in that day, there shall be 
a bright diadem for those who have turned many to righteousness ; 
and that this honor was reserved for Mr. James Haldane, long 
after he ceased to itinerate and preach to wondering thousands, 
is proved by many authentic testimonies. Amongst others, the 
Eev. Andrew Thomson, who had one of the largest parishes in 
Edinburgh, pointedly remarked, that, in examining candidates 
for admission to his half-yearly communions, he found a greater 
number of instances of awakenings attributed to the preaching 
of Mr. James Haldane than to that of any other preacher in Ed- 
inburgh. The same testimony was borne by others, and it agrees 
with an anecdote which rests on the authority of a venerable 
minister in England, who still survives, and who stated, that, in 
a conversation with Dr. M'Crie, during a visit to Edinburgh, they 
were discussing the merits of various preachers, wher* the cele- 
brated historian of John Knox observed, that, in his opinion, Mr. 
James Haldane preached the doctrine of free justification more 
fully and more clearly than any other minister he kne^r. 

At the end of 1819 his mother's last surviving sister died. 
She was the mother of Admiral Haldane Tart, and of three other 
sons, one of whom was long numbered amongst the most esteemed 
ministers in Edinburgh. There was a third son, who was well 
known, both in the counties of Perti and Forfar, as the resident 
manager of the Earl of Camperdown's estates, and who dated his 
conversion to his conversations with Mr. James Haldane, and to 
a tract which he had recommended, intituled, " Three Dialogues 



436 MR. J. A. HALDANE'S PUBLICATIONS. 

between a Clergyman and his Parishioners." Mr. James Hal- 
dane's attention to his dying aunt was another illustration of his 
character. During the last weeks of her life it was unremitting. 
Besides his daily morning visits to her house, whatever were his 
engagements, and how late soever he had been occupied by 
prayer-meetings, Church meetings, or preaching, — whatever was 
the hour, and whatever was the weather, both on the week-days 
and the Lord's-days, he never failed to walk to her house, in order 
that he might pray beside her bed, and comfort her with some of 
the precious promises of the Gospel. It was in these things, in 
his domestic circle, amongst his friends, and in his private as 
much as in public engagements, that he exhibited one of the 
brightest examples of that pure and undeflled religion which con- 
sists in visiting the widow and the fatherless, and keeping himself 
unspotted from the world. He was a man who never acted a 
part or seemed to be what he was not. His character, both in 
public and private, was earnest and truthful. The more closely 
his walk was surveyed, the more did it appear that his steps were 
ordered of the Lord, and that he himself adorned the doctrines 
which he so fervently believed and faithfully preached. 

For five years he conducted the "Scripture Magazine," which 
contained many valuable elucidations of the Word of God, both 
critical and expository, of different works that appeared on dis- 
puted points. Its chief object was to establish the grand truths 
of the Grospel, and it contains, amongst other valuable essays from 
his own pen, and "Notes on Scripture," a series of articles, which 
he once thought of consolidating into a volume, under the title 
of the "Eevelation of Mercy." They were intended to illustrate 
the gradual unfolding of the great scheme of redemption, from the 
garden cf Eden to the garden of Gethsemane ; to have followed 
its development through all its successive stages, from the promise 
made to the first Adam, after his fall, to the moment when the 
great woik of the second Adam was finished on Mount Calvary. 
He particularly intended to show the inseparable union between 
the Old Testament and the New ; how Jesus Christ lives and 
breathes in every page of the sacred volume ; how his righteous- 
ness was alike exhibited b the types of the Mosaic ceremonial 
and the Levitical sacrifices, in the shadowy grandeur of ancient 
prophecy, and the wonderful history of the Jewish economy. The 
design of publishing this volume was never accomplished, but he 
afterwards printed a valuable little tract, intituled " The Eevela- 



STRICTUKES ON ME. WALKER, OF DUBLIN. 437 

tion of God's Kighteousness," embodying an epitome of his views. 
After being out of print for nearly thirty years, a third edition 
was lately published, on the recommendation of some very com- 
petent judges, who have expressed their obligations to that trea- 
tise, as having enlarged their views of the wonderful connection 
between the Old and New Testaments.* 

In 1819 he wrote some very able " Strictures on a Publication 
upon Primitive Christianity, by Mr. John Walker, formerly Fel- 
low of Dublin College." Mr. Walker had assumed the principle 
that a mere profession of belief was all that was required to con- 
stitute a claim to Christianity, and that, if a brother professed re- 
pentance after an offence, he was to be restored, " although they 
should have the next day to accompany that brother to the gallows ;" 
and that this was to be their duty and their rule, although such a 
professing brother should commit the same offence seventy times 
seven. Mr. Walker was a great scholar, and had been a clergy- 
man from whom much had been expected ; but as Mr. James 
Haldane observes, although he seemed likely "to run well," he 
had been "hindered," and whilst he grievously mistook our 
Lord's rules of discipline by applying the law intended solely for 
personal quarrels between brethren to the case of questions as to 
Christian character, he also took a false view of faith, after the 
manner of the Sandemanians, leaving out of account the responsibil- 
ity of man, and omitting the inspired test of faith, which Mr. James 
Haldane adopts as the motto of his " Strictures :" u Little children, 
let no man deceive you ; he that doeth righteousness is righteous, 
even as he is righteous." The venerable Mr. Jay, of Bath, in 
writing to the late Eobert Spear, Esq., in 1804 ; says of Mr. James 
Haldane : "I was much pleased to hear his views of faith, al- 
though I was obliged to oppose them in order to hear them." 
Mr. Walker's erroneous views on this subject drew him out in 
print, and showed the consistency with which he continued to 
hold the sentiments which, fifteen years before, had won the 
marked approval of Mr. Jay. Like one able rightly to divide the 
Word of Grod, and who had drank deep into the Spirit of Christ, 
Mr. James Haldane exposed those errors which had tempted Grlas 
and Sandeman into others of an opposite and more dangerous 
kind. Some of the good old writers, in order to guard against 

* "The Revelation of God's Kighteousness." By the late J. A. Haldane. Lon- 
don : Nisbet and Co. Edinburgh : Whyte and Co. 



438 DEATH OF SIR ALEX. BOSWELL. 

self-deception, had so clouded over the brightness of the shield of 
faith as to have obscured its glory. 

" Saving faith," he says, " was defined so as to include every holy disposition, 
and there was no small danger of men being led to establish their own right- 
eousness under the name of faith. Glas and Sandeman boldly opposed the 
popular doctrine, and asserted that faith is simply the belief of the truth. But 
' in guarding against self-righteousness' they ridiculed ' heart religion/ and en- 
couraged, in some respects, a very improper laxity of conduct." 

The whole of the discussion is important. The glory and sim- 
plicity of faith is, on the one hand, vindicated from the error of 
those who would interpose something between the sinner and 
Christ, and, on the other, from the still more dangerous extreme 
of making the profession of a mere intellectual act, unaccompanied 
by any change of heart, a title to salvation. The sovereignty of 
God and the responsibility of man were two doctrines which Mr. 
J. Haldane never tried to reconcile, but which he fully and strong- 
ly preached. 

" No man who is not warped by a system will hesitate to use the language 
of Scripture : ' Seek ye the Lord while he may be found ; call ye upon him 
while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man 
his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon 
him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.' But Mr. Walker is so 
apprehensive of self-righteousness that he seems afraid of anything resembling 
those tender and pathetic expostulations so frequent in the inspired volumes. 
To inadequate views of human responsibility I attribute, in a great measure, 
that harshness and severity which characterize the writings of Mr. Walker." 

In 1822, Mr. James Haldane was called to sympathize with his 
friend, Dr. Stuart, on the melancholy occasion so well known to 
the world, when his son Mr. James Stuart, was involved in a po- 
litical duel, in which Sir Alexander Boswell, the son of the cele- 
brated biographer of Dr. Johnson, was killed. At that time party 
ran high in Edinburgh. It was the crisis of a long protracted 
struggle between the Tories and the Whigs, or Liberals. The 
Tories had for so many years exercised a paramount influence in 
Scotland, which had been for some time declining. Mr. James 
Stuart, who was one of the earliest and most intimate friends of 
Lord Brougham, had taken a leading part on the side of the 
Whigs, whose great political organ and rallying point had been 
the " Edinburgh Review." In 1819-20 he had been bitterly lam- 
pooned in the "Sentinel," a weekly political journal set up in 
Edinburgh about the same time that the "John Bull" had been 



DEATH OF SIR ALEXANDER BOSWELL. 439 

established in London. A quarrel amongst the publishers in- 
duced ' one of them to betray the secrets of the contributors, and 
disclosed Sir Alexander Boswell as one who had satirized Mr. 
Stuart as a coward. A duel followed, of which an account is 
given in the following letter. It is needless to say that Mr. James 
Stuart had then at least no sympathy with his venerable parent's 
religious sentiments : — 

"Edinburgh, April 6, 1822. 
"... Dr. Stuart is pretty well, but much distressed (about his son). 
Boswell said, after he received his wound, that Stuart could not have acted 
otherwise. It was a singular coincidence, that after Boswell was wounded, and 
carried to Lord Balmuto's, his Lordship showed (Sir) George Wood, who had 
gone as his surgeon, different rooms, that he might choose where he should be 
laid. He fixed on one, and that very day a picture of Lord Auchinleck, Boswell's 
grandfather, had come from Edinburgh to Balmuto, and it was removed from 
the bed on which it had been laid to make room for the grandson. When Bos- 
well first got Lord Rosslyn's message he was a good deal agitated, suspecting 
what it referred to, and told his wife. She sent for Baron Hume, and, in con- 
sequence of his advice, the Sheriff's warrant was obtained. This, however, only 
extended to the county of Edinburgh, and probably rather hastened the catas- 
trophe. Douglas (afterwards Marquis of Queensberry), Boswell's second, called 
for him at three in the morning, and told him the thing was blown, and not a 
moment was to be lost. They immediately set off for Fife. Boswell, it is said, 
asked Douglas if he ought to fire. This question the other declined answering; 
and it is said he did not mean to fire, but his pistol went off when he received 
his wound. . . . Boswell, instead of raising his pistol when the signal was 
given, was holding it up over his head, and thus exposed himself. Had not this 
been the case he would probably have received the ball in his arm. George Bell 
(the surgeon), whom I met at your uncle's last night, told me this. Into what 
difficulties do men plunge themselves when they forsake the Divine authority ! 
As soon as that is lost sight of they think themselves obliged to do what they 
feel and know to be most improper. They are shut up to risk their own lives, 
and, perhaps, to murder their fellow-creatures. Truly the way of transgressors 
is hard." 

Eather more than three years after the removal of his first wife 
Mr. James A. Haldane formed a second union. On the 23d of 
April, 1822, he married Margaret Eutherford, a daughter of the 
late well-known physician and Professor of Botany in the Uni- 
versity of Edinburgh, Dr. Daniel Eutherford, the maternal uncle 
of Sir Walter Scott, so that the second Mrs. James Haldane was 
the cousin-german of the celebrated poet. In all things she was 
like-minded with her husband, the value of whose exalted excel- 
lencies she thoroughly appreciated, whilst her own amiable and 
valuable qualities contributed to render the union happy and 



440 ME. HILL'S LAST VISIT TO SCOTLAND. 

prosperous. Down to the last hour of his mortal life it was her 
constant study to minister to his comfort and promote that of his 
family. 

It was in the summer of 1823 that Mr. Eowland Hill revisited 
Scotland for the first time since his tour in 1798. The Circus no 
longer existed as a place of worship, but he once more preached 
for both of his old friends, Mr. J. Haldane and Mr. Aikman. He 
was not now able to preach on the Calton Hill to 20,000 hearers, 
but his spirit was unchanged, as is evinced in the following letter : — 

"London, 29th May, 1823. 

" My dear Sir, — It is with the sincerest gratitude and thankfulness I return 
my most grateful acknowledgments to you for your affectionate invitation to 
your hospitable abode. 

" There is a gratification in seeing and conversing with old friends peculiar 
to itself, and arising among living Christians from their union with Christ, 
whereby all his members are made one with each other, as being one in him, 
while to love the image of Christ, as we see it upon our fellow-mortals, is one 
of the brightest evidences that we have been beloved by him. 

" While I lament that the Lord has taken from you your late beloved partner, 
yet I trust you will prove, by your present union, that he has repaired the breach. 
Little did I think when I was last in Scotland — now, I believe, three-and-twenty 
years ago — that I should yet live. Within the short space of a few weeks 
from hence and I shall enter the eightieth year of my age, and though no won- 
der that I feel not as I once was, yet I ought to be very thankful that I am as 
I am. 

" Some of my old friends in Scotland, I suppose, are still remaining. To such 
I beg my most cordial love and respects. Oh! that we may be kept from de- 
clining in spirituality in our declining days, blest with an ardent desire to work 
as long as we can work, and longing for still brighter evidences of that glory 
that shall be revealed. 

"Mrs. Hill returns grateful thanks for Mrs. Haldane's kind invitation, though 
she does not accept it; and be assured, dear Sir, that I can subscribe myself, — 
" Yours, very affectionately and sincerely, 

"Rowland Hill. 

" Rev. James A. Haldane." 



CHAPTER XX. 

[1821—1826.] 

From the year 1816, to the close of the year 1824, Mr. Haldane's 
chief efforts had been directed towards the Continent of Europe, 
with that intense earnestness and concentration of purpose which 
always characterized his plans and operations. But at the end 
of 1824, he was called on to gird himself for a new contest, and 
one which was far more painful, as it was not merely with Arians, 
Socinians, or Neologians, but with some whom he loved and 
honored as fellow-laborers in the Gospel of Christ. 

In approaching the Bible Society controversy, the difficulties 
and delicacy of the subject stand out in strong relief. But truth 
cannot suffer from discussion ; and nothing is more remote from 
the design of these Memoirs than to stir the embers of a smoulder- 
ing fire. In a Life of Eobert Haldane it would, however, be im- 
possible to omit all reference to what he deemed its most important 
act. Even if silence were attempted, it would be rebuked by 
recollections too sacred to be forgotten. Only a few days before 
his death, after a calm and solemn review of the principal events 
of his life, he himself, when thus standing on the confines of the 
eternal world, intimated his wish that at some period, although 
not till a few years should have elapsed, an account should be 
written of the Bible Society controversy. He thought that it 
would be useful to preserve such a record, that Christians might 
better understand the immense importance of the subject in debate, 
involving as it did the Divine authority of the holy Scriptures, 
and the integrity of the sacred canon, as well as the principles on 
which it was lawful to associate and act with unbelievers for the 
circulation of the Bible. Nearly ten years have passed away 
since this injunction was given, and in the interval most of those 
who were implicated in that arduous contest have disappeared 
from the busy scene of mortal life. Many of the evils against 



442 BIBLE SOCIETY CONTROVERSY. 

which. Mr. Haldane, Dr. Thomson, and their compeers warred, 
have been entirely removed, and the rest greatly abated. The 
British and Foreign Bible Society has been every year approaching 
nearer and nearer to those principles of Christian simplicity, a 
departure from which at one time involved its administrators in 
much that was embarrassing, and not a little that was sinful. The 
Word of Grod is no longer adulterated by the intermixture or 
addition of Apocryphal fables, or the writings of lying prophets. 
Although some of the Foreign Societies still pursue this unhal- 
lowed course, and may even now number in their Committees the 
enemies of the Gospel, yet the British representatives of the So- 
ciety abroad are no longer in alliance with infidels, Socinians, or 
persecutors. Eomish priests, receiving un acknowledged salaries, 
no longer exhibit the contradictory marvel of Popery enlisted in 
the cause of Bible distribution. Translations are no longer en- 
trusted to such men as those who vitiated the sense of Scripture 
at Lausanne, or who, in the Turkish version, exchanged the 
majesty of the eternal Word for the bombast of an Oriental para- 
phrase. The missionaries and preachers of the Gospel in France 
and Switzerland, — such as Malan, Bost, Empeytaz, Felix NefY, or 
Henri Pyt, — are no longer ignored or publicly disclaimed by the 
agents of British Christians. Weologians can no longer evade the 
laws, and by dexterous contrivances deface the blessed volume 
of inspiration with infidel introductions or heretical notes. In a 
word, the British and Foreign Bible Society, whilst collecting 
round its standard the excellent of every Christian denomination, 
has been gradually retracing its steps out of that labyrinth of 
error in which it was involved at the time when Bobert Haldane 
first uplifted his warning voice, and recalled its members to a 
sense of the guilt and danger of pursuing the unhallowed course 
into which some of their leaders had been imperceptibly and 
unconsciously betrayed. 

When the British and Foreign Bible Society was first institu- 
ted, there is no doubt that its rules contemplated the exclusion 
of the Apocrypha. This is sufficiently established by the written 
record, but the words of the Bev. Josiah Pratt, one of its found- 
ers, are conclusive : " That Society," says this excellent man, 
himself a partisan of Earl-street, " That Society was formed — we 
speak advisedly and of our own knowledge — on the principle of 
the utter exclusion of the Apocrypha." And again : "We have 
no reason to believe that a single native of the British islands 



INTERMINGLED APOCRYPHA — REV. JOHN OWEN. 443 

had any other intention than to disperse the inspired Word of 
God, and that only, throughout the world."* This rule was 
strictly adhered to in regard to the English authorized version, 
with the exception of one edition, which was admitted to have 
been an error, and which became, in 1818, the subject of a re- 
monstrance from the Edinburgh Society, by whom the mistake 
was first detected. 

It matters little at what time the laws of their Institution were 
first contravened, but Mr. Gorham, with his usual minute and 
scholastic accuracy, holds it to be established, that "up to the 
month of January, 1812," the Committee considered themselves 
debarred from sanctioning the addition of the Apocrypha, whether 
appended or interspersed. From the 7th June, 1813, the down- 
ward course became bolder and more rapid, until at last, in 1819, 
the administrators of the Society, growing confident in immunity 
from censure, actually began themselves to print Bibles with the 
Apocrypha either appended or intermingled, according as they 
were designed to gratify the Continental prejudices of Protestants, 
Romanists, or Greeks. It is scarcely needful to observe, that in 
the intermingled Bibles intended for the members of the Eomish 
and Greek Churches, there is nothing to distinguish the inspired 
from the uninspired books ; and that although the Council of 
Trent had not dared to insert the third books of Esdras and of 
Maccabees, these were printed in the Sclavonian Bible in 1815, 
and received the public thanks of the Archbishop Vicarius of 
Moscow. This excessive adulteration of the pure Word of God 
was sanctioned on grounds of expediency ; but the subsequent 
overthrow of the Bible Societies in Russia, and the exclusion 
from Russia of the agents who had assisted in the work, only 
exhibit another instance of the importance of standing upon 
principle, and not yielding up the truth of God, in the vain hope 
of promoting his glory. 

But during all the time that this was going on, no public inti- 
mation of it was made to the Society. The Clerical Secretary, 
the Rev. John Owen, was a man of fine parts, — brilliant as an 
orator, a good tactician, energetic in his zeal for Bible distribu- 
tion, somewhat vain of his diplomacy, and little disposed to be 
stopped in his ardent career by dry rules or technical difficulties. 
His influence was paramount in Earl-street. He was, as one of 
his friends and apologists declared, " the dictator" of the Com- 

* Missionary Register, 1827. 



444: MK. haldane's fiest visit to earl-street. 

mittee, and it would have been a bold act for any member to have 
opposed his measures, or questioned his decisions. Much was 
done in sub -committees which never came before the general 
body. Even so late as 1825, active and intelligent members 
could be named who were still in the dark ; and Mr. T. Pell 
Piatt, the friend and admirer of Mr. Owen, as well as Honorary 
Librarian to the Society, published a letter to Dr. Wardlaw in 
1827, where he declared that Mr. Owen designedly suppressed 
the information. It was publicly admitted to have been a common 
saying in Earl-street, that " John Bull would never stand an in- 
termingled Apocrypha." These are things which now belong to 
history; and whatever irritation the charge of " studied conceal- 
ment" occasioned at the first, the fact was afterwards admitted, 
and it is due, not only to the assailants of the Apocrypha, but to 
a large majority of the Committee, who were unconsciously in- 
volved in the guilt of adulterating the Word of God, that the 
truth should be stated. 

It was in August, 1821, when Mr. Haldane was in London, that 
he called with a friend at the offices of the British and Foreign 
Bible Society, to make some inquiries with reference to an edition 
of Martin's French Bible. That edition had been printed at 
Toulouse at the expense of the Society, under the inspection of 
Professor Chabrand, to whom the office of editor had been com- 
mitted, on the recommendation of Mr. Haldane, acting through 
General Macaulay, whom he had met at Montauban. On the oc- 
casion of that visit to Earl-street, Mr. Haldane forgot his umbrella, 
and being much accustomed to observe the leadings of Provi- 
dence, it was to this accident that he was wont reverentially to 
trace the part he took in originating and carrying on the Apoc- 
rypha controversy. He returned on the following day to reclaim 
his umbrella, and was requested by Mr. Zachary Macaulay to join 
a Sub-Committee, which was then in conference with Dr. Pink- 
erton in regard to the Toulouse Bible. To his surprise, he dis- 
covered not only that the Apocrypha had been appended to this 
edition, but that an earlier edition, which he had himself origi- 
nated at Montauban, had undergone the same contamination, al- 
though his contributions to its cost had been made under re- 
peated pledges that it should contain nothing but the pure Word 
of God. These discoveries were as startling to the noble Presi- 
dent himself as they were to Mr. Haldane. They led to other 
inquiries, and the whole truth with reference to the general cir- 



MR. drummoxd's narrative. 445 

dilation of the Apocrypha was very soon disclosed. Mr. Hughes 
seemed anxious to abate the evil, and Mr. Owen looked like one 
who was disconcerted at the discovery, but who felt that further 
perseverance in the same course would be madness. Had Mr. 
Owen lived, it is difficult to say how he would have steered the 
gallant vessel which had so long been his pride and his boast. It 
is probable that, between two difficulties, he would have chosen 
that which would have secured peace at home, and renounced the 
Apocrypha. But he did not long survive, and his successor, Mr. 
Brandram, was unfortunately wedded to the system into which 
Mr. Owen had fallen, and he ultimately did battle in defence of 
the Apocrypha, with an honest zeal and unbending determination 
worthy of a better cause. During the interval between the day 
when Mr. Haldane first privately opened the subject in Earl- 
street, in August, 1821, and the public rupture in 1825, there 
was much friendly negotiation. On his return home, he ad- 
dressed a private letter to one of the Secretaries, dated Auchin- 
gray, 6th October, 1821, which was read in Earl-street, pointing 
out, in minute detail and with great force of argument, the evil 
of which the Society was guilty. 

Mr. Drummond has published a narrative of what happened in 
the interval, between 1821 and 1825. It is marked by his usual 
clearness and precision, as well as some of the other characteris- 
tics of his terse, graphic, and forcible style. He relates how con- 
versations were held with the Secretaries, how they admitted the 
violation of the fundamental principle of the Society, and how 
they begged for time ; how all went on well until, nearly a year 
afterwards, "we learnt, to our great surprise, that faith had not 
been kept with us ; that the Committee was going on just as it 
had been doing before." Mr. Drummond proceeds : — 

" It was then agreed to be necessary to bring the question to the formal de- 
cision of the Committee. A Committee was specially summoned, after a long 
notice, for August 19, 1822, at which Lord Teignmouth presided. After much 
debating, it was resolved that the practice should be discontinued ; but that as 
the Committee had been going on for a considerable period in their error, it 
should take time gradually to retrace its steps ; that nothing should be done 
hastily, but that firmly, perseveringly, and mildly, the distribution of the Apoc- 
rypha should be stopped, and a Resolution framed for this purpose was adopted 
unanimously." 

Matters were thus quietly arranged, and everything promised 
peace, until the month of September, 1824, when, on the applica- 



446 MR. DRUMMOND'S NARRATIVE. 

tion of a Romish priest, — the same who was subsequently dis- 
missed from their service, — the Committee unanimously voted 
500£ for an intermingled Apocrypha. 

" A clergyman," says Mr. Drummond, " who usually attends the Committee, 
heard of this, and wrote a letter to protest against it. At the following meet- 
ing some of the Committee thought the most dignified course to pursue was to 
take no notice of the protest, but to confirm the vote of the preceding meeting. 
Upon Lord Teignmouth, however, who was in the chair, asking the Committee, 
whether in case they confirmed their vote they were prepared for seeing the 
clergyman's protest in print, they agreed to postpone the further consideration 
of it to another meeting. Accordingly the subject again came forward at a 
third meeting, when, without one single word being uttered by any individual 
for or against it, the vote for 5001 was unanimously rescinded. Is cool judg- 
ment and inflexible principle, or impulse and feeling, the guide of a Board, 
which is unanimous one day upon any given point, and as unanimous the fol- 
lowing day upon its direct contrary?" 

The Anti- Apocryphal resolution of the 19th August, 1822, al- 
lowed that the omission of the Apocrypha was necessary, in order 
"to keep entire good faith with the members of the Society." 
The vote to Dr. Yan Ess, in 1824, was therefore not a sin of 
omission or of carelessness, but a departure from the pledge pri- 
vately made to Mr. Haldane, Mr. Macaulay, Mr. Drummond, and 
Dr. Thorpe, in 1821, and in the following year publicly repeated 
and recorded in the minute-books. The vote to Yan Ess destroy- 
ed the hopes cherished during three years of patient delay, and 
now Mr. Haldane felt that the time for action was at last come. 
As his previous conduct had been characterized by moderation 
and forbearance, so were his future acts to bear witness to his 
Christian courage and indomitable perseverance. On the 21st of 
September, 1824, a letter of expostulation was, for the first time, 
addressed to Earl-street, from the Edinburgh Bible Committee. 
A temporary Resolution was passed on the 20th of December, 
1824, allowing that to be done indirectly, which was not to be 
done directly. It was a well-meant effort of the Noble Presi- 
dent to please both parties, on a question too grave to admit 
of compromise. It was, in fact, afterwards allowed on all hands 
to be ineffectual for the objects it had in view. It settled nothing, 
and satisfied no one. 

Still the Edinburgh Committee were averse to an open rupture. 
In the hopes of obtaining terms of peace, they addressed to Earl- 
street, a further remonstrance, dated the 17th of January, 1825, 
embodied in a series of Resolutions, chiefly drawn up by the late 



FIRST EDINBURGH STATEMENT. 447 

Rev. Edward Craig, an English Episcopal clergyman, a fact 
worthy of record, as contradicting the allegation, industriously 
circulated, that it was a Scotch question. 

By the supporters of Apocryphal circulation were not idle, and 
a remonstrance of an opposite character was, on the 11th of Feb- 
ruary, prepared at the lodge of Corpus Christi College, Cam- 
bridge, and signed by twenty-six members of the Senate, pro- 
testing against that part of Lord Teignmouth's compromise, which 
denied pecuniary aid to editions of the Bible in which the 
Apocryphal books were " mixed and interspersed." 

To this document the following note was appended : — 

"We have no desire whatever that the Apocrypha should be circulated where 
the canonical Scriptures will be received without it ; but we earnestly wish that 
the circulation of these may not be impeded, by any determination which will 
excite direct opposition from the very Churches that most need to be supplied 
with them." 

The opinion of the Secretaries, as well as that of their most 
active coadjutors in the Committee, unhappily accorded with the 
Cambridge Protest, and, on the 7th of March, 1825, the same day 
on which it was read in Earl-street, it was at once resolved, 
11 That all the Resolutions of this Committee, relative to the 
Apocrypha be rescinded." Another unsatisfactory Resolution of 
the Committee, passed on the 22d April, leaving money grants 
unnoticed, and sanctioning the gift of canonical books in parts, 
thereby supplying facilities for the interspersion of the Apocrypha, 
indiscriminately mingled with the sacred text, and indirectly fa- 
voring the circulation of a false canon of Scripture. It thus 
appeared, that the Committee was no longer agreed as to the book 
which was to be called the Bible ; that, at best, the question of 
what was, and what was not, holy Scripture, was to be an open 
question, and that the Bible, instead of being associated with the 
hallowed influence that belongs to its character, as only contain- 
ing the Word of God, was to be a term which might be anything 
or nothing, according to the latitudinarian views of Eomanists, 
JSTeologians, or Pantheists. 

As soon as this melancholy conclusion was known to the Edin- 
burgh Bible Society, its Committee met, and issued its first 
"Statement relative to the circulation of the Apocrypha, by the 
British and Foreign Bible Society." It contained a brief narra- 
tive of the discussion which had already taken place, the resolu- 
tions prepared by Mr. Craig, and an Appendix, drawn up by the 



448 ME. SIMEON. 

learned and venerable Professor Paxton, exhibiting the corrup- 
tions, false doctrines, and superstitions, sanctioned by the Apoc- 
ryphal writers. Of this remarkable document five thousand 
copies were printed, and circulated all over the kingdom. The 
rival Protest from Cambridge was, at the same time, printed, by 
the opposite party, and from the warehouses of Earl-street it was 
profusely distributed, accompanied by an Introduction and Notes, 
written by the Eev. Henry Yenn. The Cambridge gentlemen 
maintained two propositions, which were equally incorrect and 
untenable : first, that all the foreign Churches regarded the Apoc- 
rypha as an integral part of the Bible ; and next, that it was 
" impossible to circulate among them, to any extent, Bibles which 
do not contain it." With reference to the first proposition, it was 
true in regard to the Church of Kome, which finally sealed its 
apostasy as a witness for Grod, when, at the Council of Trent, and 
in order to serve the purposes of the Man of sin, it purposely in- 
corporated the Apocrypha with the Sacred Scriptures, and pro- 
nounced its anathema upon those who do not receive these lying 
fables. It might possibly be true in regard to the Greek Church, 
although its decision had not been collectively pronounced, but it 
was not true in regard to the foreign Protestant Churches. With 
reference to the second proposition, had it been certain that it 
was impossible to circulate the Bible without the Apocrypha, 
such a fact would not have justified a violation of Christian prin- 
ciple ; but the experience of more than a quarter of a century 
has now happily dissipated the gloomy forebodings of those who 
signed and issued the Cambridge Protest, and has shown that the 
God of the Bible has not reduced his people to the humiliating 
necessit}^ of adulterating his holy Word, in order to secure for it 
the acceptance of his own guilty creatures 

The Cambridge Protest was followed by a letter to Lord Teign- 
mouth, by the Eev. Charles Simeon, in which it seemed as if the 
venerable and amiable writer had meant, in his own person, to 
add another illustration to the precept, "Cease ye from man." 
In a speech, supposed to be uttered by the Apostle Paul, Mr. 
Simeon strenuously urged the expediency of intermingling the 
Apocrypha, if it were necessary to render the pure Word of Grod 
more acceptable to the taste of the superstitious, idolatrous, and 
corrupt Churches of the Eomish and Greek persuasion. This 
duty he strove to inculcate from the principle of becoming all 
things to all men, and from the circumcision of Timothy, as if it 



DOUBTS AS TO THE CANON. 449 

were lawful to do evil that good might come, or as if in the case 
of one whose mother was a Jew, although his father was a Greek, 
compliance with an act in such a case lawful, if not actually bind- 
ing, were parallel to a participation in the corruption of the 
Word of God. 

To the remarks accompanying the Cambridge Protest, Mr. Gor- 
ham published a masterly reply, in which, with much scholastic 
ability and profound research, he demolished every argument ad- 
duced in mitigation of the sin of violating the canon of Scripture, 
and by an appeal to history, antiquity, and actual fact, proved 
that it was impossible for the Bible Society to intersperse the 
Apocrypha, without violating its original constitution, going back 
to the principles of Eomanism, and uifdoing the work of our 
great Ecclesiastical Eeformers. 

Meanwhile, the remonstrances of the Edinburgh and other 
Scotch Societies were followed by protests from several English 
auxiliaries, and the aspect of affairs appeared so threatening, that, 
on the 2d of August, 1825, it was resolved to refer the whole 
subject to a Special Committee. 

Whilst this Committee was deliberating, several incidental cir- 
cumstances tended to show how much reason there was, that 
Christians should be called to a sense of the importance of main- 
taining inviolate the sacred canon. Every argument used in pal- 
liation of an intermingled Apocrypha, might evidently be traced 
to doubts or uncertainty on this momentous question. Nay, so 
little had Christians been accustomed to observe the bulwarks 
and mark the battlements which encircle the sacred canon, that 
Mr. Simeon himself evinced some confusion on the subject, in a 
second letter, which he printed, but was persuaded to withdraw ; 
whilst, emboldened by such authorities, a clever writer in the 
" Eclectic Eeview" published an article in February, 1825, ex 
pressing doubts with regard to no less than ten books and one 
hundred and forty chapters of the Old Testament Scriptures. 
This article was hailed with delight by the leading Philo-Apoc- 
ryphists, and acquired a demi-official character from the zeal with 
which it was sent out, with the aid of its organized machinery, 
and at the expense of members of the Committee. 

The country was now in a blaze on the subject of the Apocry- 
pha, but although Mr. Haldane was the first to lay the matter 
before the Edinburgh Society, and maintained a constant corres- 
pondence with members of the London Committee, and others 



450 MR. HALDANES FIRST REVIEW, 

wlio attended its meetings, it was not till the close of the year 
that he himself appeared in print. It was then that he published 
his first " Eeview of the Conduct of the British and Foreign Bible 
Society relative to the Apocrypha, and to their Administration 
on the Continent ; with an Answer to the Eev. C. Simeon, and 
Observations on the Cambridge Bemarks." His two well-chosen 
mottoes contain the gist of all his writing and speeches on this sub- 
ject during a period of nine years : "Add thou not unto his words, 
lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar" (Prov. xxx. 6); 
and, " Shouldst thou help the ungodly, or love them that hate 
the Lord?" (2 Chron. xix. 2). During three years he had tried 
every effort to adjust the question amicably and privately. Du- 
ring a fourth year he hid labored to obtain the withdrawal of the 
Apocrypha, through the instrumentality of the Edinburgh Society, 
of which he was Vice-President. At last, he himself came for- 
ward with his " Be view of the Conduct of the British and Foreign 
Bible Society." It consisted of five chapters, each grave, convin- 
cing, and effective. In the first, he asserts the importance of the 
question, involving, as it did, the authenticity of Scripture, the 
integrity of the canon, and the sovereignty of the Word of God, 
against those who talked as if it were a light matter to contami- 
nate the sacred oracles by Apocryphal corruptions, whether added 
or interspersed. In his second chapter, he encountered Mr. Sim- 
eon's arguments, drawn from Scripture, which he not only fully 
answered, but, in the words of Mr. Zachary Macaulay, "pulver- 
ized." In his third chapter, he sifts the testimony adduced in the 
Cambridge Bemarks, drawn from the alleged necessity of the case, 
and by that process of reasoning, of which he was so great a mas- 
ter, turns against the Cambridge protesters the evidence of all 
their witnesses, and proves that the foreign letters, on which their 
case was grounded, had either been furnished to them mutilated 
and garbled, or were, from their own internal evidence, unworthy 
of credit. One of the omissions in the letter, published as that 
of Van Ess, contained this important statement, which was ex- 
cluded, without an asterisk to denote the hiatus : — u It is but can- 
did to say, that, individually, I, like many other enlightened Roman 
Catholics, feel disposed to take no umbrage whatsoever at such a sepa- 
ration." 

Professor Kieffer's arguments and evidence were still more tri- 
umphantly disposed of. His comparison of the Bible and Apoc- 
rypha to the parable of the wheat and the tares, was not only 



MR. HALDANE'S FIRST REVIEW. 451 

shown to be "a licentions misapplication of the Word of God," 
but an index to the same doubts or indifference as to the sacred 
canon, which lurked behind every argument in favor of the Apoc- 
rypha. Of Mr. Haldane's forcible mode of reasoning, and of the 
manner also in which he generally turned the defences of Bible 
adulteration into foolishness, the following is an example : — 

"Ought we not, with perfect confidence," says Mr. Kieffer, "to leave to the 
Almighty the means and the time, which, in His incomprehensible wisdom, he 
shall consider the most fit and proper for separating those books from the in- 
spired writings ?" Mr. Haldane replies, "According to Mr. KiefFer's application 
of the parable of the tares, the Bible is the wheat, the Apocrypha the tares, the 
devil is the author of it, and the servants are forbidden to take away what he 
has indited. Extraordinary as it may appear, that, in pleading the cause of the 
Apocrypha, he should have laid down such premises, the conclusion which he 
draws is still more remarkable. In plain language it is as follows : — Let us, 
then, imitate the conduct of this enemy, and, as long as the servants shall sleep, 
unite with the devil in sowing tares among the wheat, by continuing to print 
the Apocrypha. Arguments like these, should arouse the most dormant and 
inconsiderate, while they prove to what lengths such perversions of Scripture 
would conduct us." 

These references to Mr. Haldane's first Beview are given as 
records of the real state of affairs at the time when he commenced 
his public exposure of the abuses, which had grown up under the 
shelter of the British and Foreign Bible Society. That Institu- 
tion had an object of surpassing glory, but the glory of the object 
had been too much transferred to the men, and to the Society. 
They had, in a certain sense, lost sight of the end in idolatry of 
the means. The circulation of the Bible is a glorious thing as a 
means of promoting the salvation of men, but the salvation of 
men will not be accomplished by any diplomatic craft which is 
inconsistent with the holiness of God. It was needful that, in 
circulating Bible, a more becoming reference should be made to 
the perfections and the power of its Almighty Author. The 
cause of God never can be advanced by swerving from the re- 
quirements of his infinite purity. 

The fourth chapter of the Be view fully enters into the question, 
how far Christians are at liberty to make additions to the Book 
of God, in order to promote its circulation. He particularly 
draws attention to the fact, that the Apocryphal writers have 
blasphemously usurped the prophetic character. " The word of 
the Lord came unto me, saying," &c. "Thus saith the Lord." 
The conclusion, then, is inevitable. The Apocrypha is either the 



452 MR. HALDANE'S FIRST REVIEW. 

Word of God, or an addition of lying prophets. That it is the 
work of lying prophets is proved both by external and internal 
evidence, and he therefore winds up his demonstration in the fol- 
lowing words : — 

"If the man, or angel, who shall preach another Gospel than that which the 
Bible contains, is by the Holy Ghost pronounced accursed, then does this awful 
denunciation apply to a book, which, pretending to record the message of an 
angel from heaven, teaches another Gospel. Under this anathema, then, the 
Apocrypha lies. By the authority of an apostle, we are bound to hold it ac- 
cursed." 

The Cambridge annotators had quoted with approbation an 
extract from Hooker, in which that great writer, acting the part 
of an advocate in controversy with the Puritans, had applied the 
term "Divine" to the Apocryphal books, in a modified sense. 
To the authority of Scripture Mr. Haldane ever bowed with a 
reverence unhesitating and supreme. To the authority of man, 
when placed in competition with the Bible, he paid no respect at 
all. He therefore exclaims : — 

"Were they not ashamed when they produced such a quotation? . . . . 
Because Hooker called the Apocrypha divine, which the Scriptures denounced 
as accursed, are we to set aside the authority of God, and bow to his ? Because 
Augustine, whom these gentlemen also quote, could not distinguish between 
the doctrines of justification and sanctification, are we to give up the important 
distinction ? Far different was the language in which the pious and learned 
Bishop Hall denounced the Apocrypha, from that of him who, on this occasion, 
was not the judicious Hooker. Of these books, says the good Bishop, " some 
purpose to their readers uo better than magical juggling ; others, bloody self- 
murders; others, lying fables; and others, Heathenish rites, not without a pub- 
lic applause in their relation." 

Professor Kieffer's facts were still more conclusively overturned 
by Mr. Haldane's own testimony, and by that which he obtained 
from various quarters through his French correspondence. The 
case of the Toulouse Bible is an example. It had been unscru- 
pulously asserted in Paris, and the Earl-street Committee had been 
led to believe, that this edition had been at first actually published 
without the Apocrypha, but that, in consequence of a "protest 
on all sides" against this omission, the Society had been obliged 
to supply the want. Far from this being the case, it was proved, 
first, that the Apocrypha was added before the experiment was 
made ; secondly, that it was inserted to satisfy the old Paris Bible 
Society, composed, as it was, of Arians, Socinians, and unbeliev- 
ers ; thirdly, that it was done in defiance of the Christian remon- 



TOULOUSE BIBLE. 453 

strances of Professor Chabrand, who alleged that by doing so 
"there was no danger of the Protestants confounding the Apoc- 
ryphal with the Canonical books;" fourthly, that not only was 
the Apocrypha thus forced into the Toulouse Bible, but, under 
the pretence of not giving offence to Romanists, David Martin's 
admirable preface was omitted, although it contained one of the 
most luminous views of the history and errors of the Apocryphal 
books. In opposition to the statement, that there was a protest 
on all sides against the omission of the Apocrypha, MM. Cha- 
brand, Bonnard, Marzial, and other Christian Protestant pastors 
and Professors in the South of France, with one voice testified 
that there were no such complaints, except it might be from quar- 
ters very little entitled to the consideration of true Christians. 

The case of Martin's Pocket Bible was equally misrepresented ; 
for it was clearly proved, that, in its unadulterated state, it had 
sold better, and circulated more freely, than the adulterated 
Bibles. The Montauban Bible was another striking illustration 
of the sad state of the foreign agency and Associations of the 
British and Foreign Bible Society at the commencement of the 
controversy, and its history furnishes an example of Mr. Haldane's 
labors in the South of France. He states, that, being at Montau- 
ban in 1817, he discovered a deplorable want of Bibles among the 
French Protestants. To encourage his Christian friends there to 
publish a new edition, he offered a donation of 100Z., and to add 
as much more if it should be needed. His proposal was accepted, 
and on his suggestion an application was forwarded to the British 
and Foreign Bible Society, in reply to which a very liberal dona- 
tion was soon afterwards received. It was then resolved to com- 
mence the work, but not until after a decided protest from Mr. 
Haldane had secured a clear understanding and engagement to 
omit the Apocrypha, and publish the Bible alone. 

The Protestant Churches throughout France were then applied 
to, and most of them subscribed to the proposed work, without 
the Apocrypha ; and while the printing of the Bible, consisting 
of six thousand copies, was going forward, during the two years 
Mr. Haldane continued at Montauban, not a syllable was uttered 
about adding the Apocrypha, nor was there a word of complaint 
on the subject of its omission. It was at length published, and 
when no less than three thousand copies had been disposed of, the 
Paris Bible Society, under Socinian or Neologian influence, pro- 
cured the addition of the Apocrypha, in spite of the remonstran- 



454 MR. brandram's protest. 

ces of the Christians at Montauban, who decidedly opposed the 
measure, and considered it alike improper in itself, uncalled for 
by the people, and treacherous towards Mr. Haldane, with whom 
this edition of the Bible originated. 

After citing other convincing proofs to show that the adultera- 
tion of the Bible was entirely the result of Socinian influence in 
France, he exclaims : — 

" Here I cannot but exult in the Christian conduct of my good friends at 
Montauban. I feel high satisfaction when I compare it with the worldly policy 
of many. In all things they have approved themselves to be clear in this mat- 
ter. Thus wisdom is justified of her children. The weight of the opinions of 
such men on a religious subject is very different, indeed, from that of some of 
the correspondents of the British and Foreign Bible Society." (P. 78.) 

Mr. Haldane's first Keview was in truth unanswerable, both in 
arguments and facts, and it may be said to have closed the first 
campaign, — for contemporaneous with its publication, the Special 
Committee, to whom the whole subject of the Apocrypha had 
been referred, gave in their Eeport, which, although anti- Apocry- 
phal in substance, was still compromising and unsatisfactory. 

But a new chapter was about to open in this painful history, 
and a new champion was about to enter the lists. The Eeport 
of the Special Committee in Earl-street was adopted on the 21st 
November, 1825, and a Besolution confirmed on the 28th, which 
prohibited the circulation of the Apocrypha, either appended or 
interspersed, but in the matter of money grants, left, as Dr. Ward- 
law expressed it, "a postern" by which its efficacy might again be 
evaded. Considering the previous vacillations of the Earl-street 
Committee, and the fact that Mr. Brandram had gone so far as to 
record a formal protest against its limited restrictions, it is no 
marvel if the Edinburgh Society were still dissatisfied with the 
Eesolution. It was indeed difficult to persuade them to trust to 
so doubtful a rule in the hands of administrators avowing such 
sentiments, especially after all the concealments which a mistaken 
policy had dictated. If any one interested in the question chooses 
to read the article which was reprinted from the " Eclectic Ee- 
view," of April, 1826, he will see ground enough to justify this 
distrust, and vindicate the decided course adopted in Edinburgh. 
To the writer in the "Eclectic," who was the chief advocate of 
the Apocryphists, the praise of zeal, ability, and out-spoken frank- 
ness may all be fully conceded. He was well known as the friend 



DR. ANDREW THOMSON. 455 

of James Montgomery, and as being himself the author of some 
beautiful gems of sacred poetry, which the Christian world will 
not willingly let die. But he did not hesitate to avow it as his 
honest opinion, that "the great error 1 ' of Earl-street consisted in 
"vacillation and indecision," that they ought not to have com- 
promised the point at issue, and that their attempt to conciliate 
had " paralyzed their friends without satisfying their enemies." 
He boldly argued, that the Committee were entitled to have taken 
" higher ground," that they had been compelled " to defer to the 
clamor" in abandoning the Apocrypha, that their " indecision," 
their " vibrating Resolutions," were attributable to divisions 
amongst themselves, or to the interference of privileged members. 
He adds, that they had only "given ear too patiently, and given 
way too timidly," out of deference to public opinion. 

It was at this crisis that the Rev. Dr. Andrew Thomson, for 
the first time, appeared in the field in a cause worthy of all the 
energies of his " colossal mind." His gigantic intellect, his un- 
flinching courage, his elastic spirits, his buoyant humor, his in- 
domitable industry, his capacity for business, his vigorous pen, 
and his powerful eloquence, entitled him to rank amongst the 
first men of his age. As a debater in the General Assembly and 
Church Courts of Scotland he stood unrivalled. Not one of his 
opponents had been able to stand before him, and the superiority 
of his practical talents, his readiness to detect a weak point in 
his adversaries' line of battle, his quickness and self-possession, 
enabled him to triumph on occasions where even the majesty, 
the brilliancy, and the thrilling eloquence of Dr. Chalmers were 
insufficient to secure a majority. His chief appeal was not to the 
passions, but to the judgment of his auditory. His logic was 
irresistible, but he could also touch the tender chords of feeling, 
as in music he could blend the highest and the lowest notes in 
delightful harmony. He could speak for hours without fatiguing 
his audience, whilst his gravest arguments were diversified by 
bursts of splendid declamation, or by flashes of that playful wit 
or withering sarcasm, which could alike captivate a listener or 
confound an assailant. Deeply penetrated with a sense of the 
importance of the Grospel, he had thrown his mighty aegis over 
that section of the Scottish Church, whose courage had too long 
been paralyzed by the opposing spirit of moderation. Many 
battles had he fought in its defence, and it was under his guidance 
that the Evangelicals were first led on to victory, and enabled to 



456 DR. ANDREW THOMSON. 

roll back the tide of secularly and Pelagianism by which the 
ancient doctrines of the Gospel had been nearly overwhelmed. 
No wonder, then, that he became "the foremost and most con- 
spicuous man" in Scotland, and that all the deepest sympathies 
of the best portion of the nation were fondly associated with the 
name of Andrew Thomson. There is no doubt that he was one 
of those stirring spirits which find a pleasure in the excitement 
of action. Like the war-horse, that " smelleth the battle from 
afar," he heard of the contest in which Mr. Haldane then took the 
lead, — "the thunder of the captains, and the shouting." But he 
approached the battle-field, as he himself avowed, with some feel- 
ings of doubt and jealousy as to the chief of the anti- Apocryphal 
forces, whose rebuke he had not then forgotten. But when he 
came to fathom the depths of the subject, and to understand its 
bearings, — when he came to see that the supremacy of the Bible 
was at stake, that the question involved the canon of Scripture, 
the Book of God, the record of saving faith, the charter of our 
salvation, — all his doubts and misgivings were flung to the winds. 
He generously gave the right hand of fellowship to Mr. Haldane, 
and threw himself into the conflict just at the moment when Mr. 
Z. Macaulay and others in England were deserting Mr. Haldane, 
and content with a compromise, or tired of a contest with their 
friends, were leaving him alone to fight the battle of the purity 
of God's Word and maintain the protest against Socinian or In- 
fidel alliances. To the office of Secretary of the Edinburgh Bible 
Society Dr. Thomson was appointed, on the motion of Mr. J. A. 
Haldane, one of its original founders and steadiest friends. The 
Second Statement of the Edinburgh Bible Society was the first 
public intimation that Dr. Andrew Thomson was in the field. It 
is difficult to speak too highly of its ability and force. It was 
comprised in 151 octavo pages, and embodied six distinct propo- 
sitions, each of which was logically and elaborately proved. To 
much of the scholastic accuracy of detail which distinguishes the 
pamphlet of Mr. Gorham, without its minuteness, it added a 
fuller, more comprehensive, more thorough-going, and more 
popular survey of all the bearings of the questions at issue, 
whether they concerned the laws of the Society, the importance 
of the sacred canon, or the history of the mistakes, the vacilla- 
tion, and the instability which had marked the policy of the 
British and Foreign Bible Society's administrators. Viewed as a 
piece of sustained reasoning, it will endure as a monument of 



DR. ANDREW THOMSON". 457 

talents which were sufficient to have placed the author in the 
first rank of debaters in the most august assembly in the world, 
whilst it also contains occasional bursts of majestic eloquence 
rising out of the argument, combined with all the native sim- 
plicity, which imprinted on his manly brow the stamp of intel- 
lectual aristocracy. 

This document was welcomed by Mr. Haldane with cordial 
pleasure. On the 16th January, 1826, he writes : — 

"Dr. Thomson has executed it with singular ability. To-day we had our 
Meeting of the General Committee, which was very fully attended, with Dr. 
Davidson in the chair. A considerable part of the statement was read, and re- 
ceived with the highest satisfaction and most cordial unanimity. Dr. Peddie 
(of the Secession Church), in the most candid and open manner, declared him- 
self convinced. Mr. Craig was the only dissentient. We went with it imme- 
diately to the printer's, and expect the first part of it on Wednesday. . . . 
Let me know how many should be sent to England. Expense will not be 
spared, as we consider it the greatest question that has been agitated since the 
Reformation. I never saw the religious public here so unanimous on any sub- 
ject as they have been since the publication of my (first) Review. 

It would be alike tedious and unnecessary to travel over the 
grounds on which Dr. Thomson shows the insufficiency of the 
Earl-street Eesolution of the 21st November, 1825, not merely 
from the inadequacy of its terms, but from the history of the past. 
The Second Statement was circulated throughout the country, 
and fell amongst the Philo-Apocryphists like the stroke of a tem- 
pest. By the Eclectic Eeviewer it is described as having "taken 
by surprise" the Committee, who " were not prepared" for " a 
proceeding so invidious and so malignant." But the act of the 
Edinburgh Committee might have been assailed without a per- 
sonal attack on their Honorary Secretary. However, from sev- 
eral quarters Dr. Thomson was unhappily assailed with great 
asperity and unwarrantable invective. Had he been a Melanc- 
thon, instead of a Luther, he would have been compelled to 
answer for himself. Amongst other unlawful shafts which were 
hurled against him in the pamphlets circulated from the deposi- 
tories in Earl-street, he was, at this early stage of the controversy, 
held up to reprobation as exhibiting a " violent and intolerant 
spirit," and as wielding a pen which had "been compelled to 
apologize for its own libels. 11 The writer knew not how little solid 
ground there was for this bitter accusation. It was only to be 
found in Dr. Thomson's generous reluctance to betray a friend, and 
it was not till after his death that Dr. M'Crie published the fact, 



458 EARL-STREET COMMITTEE. 

that in the case alluded to, when he stopped a prosecution by 
paving its expenses, and inserting an apology in the " Edinburgh 
Christian Instructor," he was " as innocent as the child unborn." 
But he paid the forfeit rather than give up the name of his friend, 
who was morally responsible, thus evincing, as Dr. M'Crie justly 
adds, " an example of generous self-devotion which has few par- 
allels." Whether he was right in thus submitting to the obloquy 
which belonged to the mistake of another is a separate question, 
but it exhibits himself as indeed u the hearty, gallant, and out- 
and-out trustworthy friend," described by Dr. Chalmers. 

Meanwhile, the Earl-street Committee-room continued, during 
the winter of 1826, to be itself the arena of perpetual strife and 
acrimonious debate. The termination of the contest waged be- 
tween what were called the Philo-Apocryphists, consisting chiefly 
of the elected Committee, headed by the Secretaries, and the 
Anti-Apocryphists, consisting chiefly of privileged members, 
headed by the Eev. Dr. Thorpe, Mr. Grorham, Mr. Drummond, 
Mr. Irving, and others, was, however, still uncertain, when, on 
the 23d March, 1826, it was resolved that a deputation should be 
sent to Edinburgh, with the view of proposing further terms of 
compromise. The deputation consisted of two of the one party 
and two of the other, namely, the Eev. Joseph Hughes and Mr. 
E. 1ST. Thornton, of Southwark, with Dr. Thorpe and Mr. Percival 
White. It was not to be expected that a divided deputation 
should prove very successful diplomatists. Their admissions 
tended to strengthen the cause of pure Bible circulation, and as 
they set out without any definite propositions of peace, the failure 
of their mission is not wonderful. The Philo-Apocryphist mem- 
bers themselves appreciated the earnest adhesion to principle 
which characterized the members of the Edinburgh Committee, 
and, in particular, they acknowledged "the affectionate hospital- 
ity" with which they were personally welcomed by Mr. Haldane 
and his brother, at the same time that they both strenuously op- 
posed the principles of the Apocryphal advocates. At the Gen- 
eral Meeting of the British and Foreign Bible Society, on the 3d 
of May, 1826, Resolutions were adopted which approached still 
nearer to the original requirements of the Scottish Societies, and 
closed up that "postern" for Bible contamination which had been 
first pointed out by Dr. Wardlaw. 

A Third Statement explains the grounds on which the Edin- 
burgh Society were still unable to compromise. There were three 



DEMAXDS OF THE EDINBURGH SOCIETY. 459 

principal points on which the London deputation and the Edin- 
burgh Committee had been at variance. These were, — 

I. As to the propriety of an expression of regret for the past 
violation of what was now admitted to have been the funda- 
mental law. 

II. The necessity of breaking off all connection with foreign 
Societies which should continue with their own funds to adulter- 
ate the sacred canon. 

III. Some change in the membership of the London Committee, 
so as to ensure an administration in accordance with the laws of 
the Society. 

The first of these requisitions was resisted as derogatory to the 
dignity of the Committee, whilst the Edinburgh Society, not 
without reason, argued, that, considering what had happened be- 
tween 1821 and 1825, it was necessary as a security for the future, 
and that if an error had been committed, and the same adminis- 
tration were to remain, some acknowledgment was due to the 
cause of truth, as confession was the first token of repentance. 
This difficulty would not, however, have been insuperable had 
the other points been conceded. But Earl-street refused to break 
with the Apocryphal and Neologian Auxiliaries on the Continent, 
and far from acknowledging any sense of error, Mr. Brandram, in 
one of his speeches, asserted, that for himself, he " could not cease 
to reprobate the Resolutions of the Meeting against the circula- 
tion of the Apocrypha," and declared his continued adhesion to 
the Protest, which is dated the 28th November, 1825, and was 
thus recorded in the minute-book : — 

" We protest against the present decision of the Committee on the subject 
of the Apocrypha, as being, according to our deliberate judgment, in direct op- 
position to the moral bearing and general spirit of God's word." 

About the same time also, Dr. Steinkopff, the Foreign Secre- 
tary, published his "Letter addressed to Robert Haldane, Esq., 
containing some Remarks on his Strictures relative to the Conti- 
nent and to Continental Bible Societies." It was written with all 
the mildness and gentleness of spirit which characterize the ven- 
erable author ; but he declared that he considered it a duty to 
yield to the prejudices of foreigners, and, for the sake of the 
Bible, to aid them in circulating the Apocrypha. It did not dis- 
prove the substance of Mr. Haldane's " First Review," and scarcely 
touched one of its details, but it gave occasion to Mr. Haldane's 



460 

"Second Review," consisting of more than 200 pages, which, like 
the first, passed through two large editions, and contained most 
interesting and valuable, although melancholy, testimonies to the 
irreligious state of the Continent. This publication was. in fact, 
a fuller development of the fifth chapter of the first, and gave an 
awful demonstration of the Infidelity which reigned over a large 
proportion of the Foreign Bible Societies. That this was not a 
private opinion of Mr. Haldane may be proved by the testimony 
of one of the favorers of Apocryphal circulations, the learned Dr. 
Pye Smith, whose own views of the sacred canon were always 
cloudy. Before the commencement of the controversy, when his 
opinions were not colored by party strife, he thus described the 
Geneva Bible Society in his answer to Cheneviere : — 

"On the last day of 1814, a Bible Society was formed at Geneva; but M. 
Cheneviere must bear with me, while I bluntly remind him that so long as it 
was under a management which he perfectly understands, it was little, if at all, 
better than a blind to the public, a covering for doing nothing, a rough garment 

WORN TO DECEIVE." 

No language employed by Mr. Haldane ever went beyond this 
of Dr. Pye Smith. It was, in fact, describing such Neologian 
Societies as being what they really were, " an organized hypocri- 
sy." From personal observation, and the testimony of other 
Christians, Mr. Haldane had come to the conclusion that Dr. Pye 
Smith's opinion was correct, and that the greater part of the Con- 
tinental Bible Societies were no better than those of Paris, Geneva, 
and Lausanne. What, indeed, could be expected of Geologists 
like Professor Paulus, "the most atrocious of them all," or of 
persecutors like Levade, Curtat, or Cheneviere ? Societies com- 
posed of such men were to adopt Dr. Pye Smith's words, only 
" blinds to the public, a covering for doing nothing," or rather, 
" synagogues of Satan," where the enemies of the Gospel found 
a rallying point, from which, with the aid of British money, they 
could encourage one another, and frown upon those who at- 
tempted to preach a pure Gospel. 

It would be tedious and painful in this place to give many 
instances in corroboration of these statements. Still it is neces- 
sary to furnish some proofs of the awful facts which Mr. Haldane 
brought so prominently into view, or it might be argued that he 
was justly accused of having needlessly disturbed the peace of 
the British and Foreign Bible Society. One of the most flagrant 
and melancholy illustrations of the manner in which Foreign 



PROFESSOR HAFFXER. 461 

Bible Societies, under pretence of circulating the Scriptures, pros- 
tituted their influence in order to diffuse Socinianism, and Neolo- 
gy, is to be found in the history of what was commonly been 
termed "The Strasburg Preface." Professor Haffner was by no 
means an avowed Infidel, but he was what is worse, because more 
subtle and more dangerous, — he was a strong Neologist, or Ra- 
tionalist. The excellent M. Empeytaz, of Geneva, who wrote an 
account of the persecution of M. Bost, thus speaks of Haffner 
and his Preface, — 

" This Neologian, who enjoyed such a reputation that no one dared to contra- 
diet him, did indeed praise the sacred books ; but this praise is so feeble, so de- 
ceitful, that it could not conceal his impious intentions. M. Bost (then a mis- 
sionary at Strasburg for the Continental Society), believing that it was his 
duty as a Christian and a minister, took up his pen, and with his characteristic 
force compared the Preface with the Word of God. He openly unmasked the 
malice of the Pope of Strasburg, and it created a great public sensation. The 
friends of Haffner denounced it as sacrilege, whilst the cowardly half-Chris- 
tians, those pests of the Church, actually united with its declared enemies to 
decry Bost and load him with the vilest calumnies. Bost, in the midst of all 
this tumult, exhibited a noble magnanimity, exhibiting on all occasions an im- 
movable calm, which was given to him of the Lord, for, as he himself said, in 
all this affair he only acted under the dictates of his conscience." 

M. Bost has been already noticed in connection with the dawn 
of a revival of Christianity at Geneva, and a beautiful sketch of 
his faithfulness and self-sacrifice has been published by the Rev. 
Mr. Burgess, of Chelsea, in his " Voice from the Alps." He is 
also mentioned by Dr. Pye Smith, in his answer to Cheneviere, 
as " a man of good sense, of research, and capacity for sound 
reasoning." His attack on the Preface had nearly cost him his 
life ; for the students, filled with hatred of Methodism, and hear- 
ing of what had happened, were irritated to the highest pitch, 
and with murderous intent assembled under M. Bost's windows, 
with stones concealed in their cloaks. Knowing that he was pas- 
sionately fond of music, they sung a hymn to induce him to 
come out, whilst they were ready to knock him on the head the 
moment he appeared. The Professors, however, not being pre- 
pared to carry the matter so far as to commit murder in cold 
blood, having heard of their design, concealed themselves in an 
adjoining house, and ran in amongst the students at the moment 
of danger, and succeeded in dispersing them. Haffner and the 
other Infidel Professors did, however, procure from the mayoralty 
an order for his banishment ; but to the honor of the Govern- 



462 PERSECUTION OF M. BOST. 

ment of Louis XVIIL, it must be added that its confirmation was 
refused by the Prefect. There is a more pleasing sequel to this 
melancholy exhibition of enmity to the Gospel. In Strasburg, 
there was an aged and pious pastor, who had been overawed by 
the talents and power of Haffner, and so prevented from faith- 
fully declaring the Gospel. He went one day on a parochial visit 
to call on a Christian family, who had read M. Bost's pamphlet. 
The lady of the house addressed him as he entered, " Well, Mr. 
Pastor, a stranger has done what the Christian pastors ought to 
have done." The rebuke was felt. M. Bien searched out M. 
Bost, and, with tears in his eyes, thanked him for his faithful 
testimony, confessed his own shameful fear of the champion of 
Neology, and in token of his resolution from that moment to act 
a more Christian part, went home and wrote an answer to, Haffner. 
Such were the circumstances under which Dr. Haffner's Pref- 
ace was published. Information of this daring outrage on the 
Word of God, perpetrated by a Bible Society in connection with 
the British and Foreign, reached the Continental Society on the 
2d of August, 1819, and on the 9th of the same month was con- 
veyed to the Secretaries of the Earl-street Committee. From that 
date, the facts may be gathered from the official documents which 
were printed. From these, it appears that, in violation of a sol- 
emn pledge, the Strasburg Committee had published, with their 
own money, an introduction to a Bible which the London Com- 
mittee had enabled them to print. Ignoring the character of the 
preface, of which M. Bost had given copious extracts, the Secre- 
taries despatched a gentle remonstrance to Strasburg, assuming 
that the preface might be "innocent and faultless," instead of 
being, as they were fully informed, a deliberate attempt to per- 
vert the Scriptures. They evaded every entreaty to ascertain 
with certainty the nature and extent of the obnoxious preface, 
and thus left the Strasburg ISTeologians to imagine that the objec- 
tion to the publication was rather formal than substantial. The 
Strasburg Committee replied by assuring Mr. Owen, in the bland- 
est terms, that they too had, on the same 9th of August, resolved 
" that it should be sold and distributed separately" but that they 
could not "prevent such as wished it from binding up this intro- 
duction with their copy of the Bible, since it is printed in the 
same size." And as if to pour profane mockery on the whole 
affair, by imitating the language of British Methodists, they add : 
" May the Lord vouchsafe his blessing to our labors, and cause 



FRUITS OF NEOLOGIAN ALLIANCES. 463 

the good seed, which we shall not cease to scatter abundantly abroad, 
to bear fruit!" The rulers in Earl-street might well have been 
startled by the answer made to Mr. Owen, and although they 
passed a public resolution, "approving of the measures adopted 
by the Strasburg Society," another private letter was addressed 
to the offending parties, intimating that the Strasburg resolution 
was not sufficiently clear, and recommending that as a Society 
they should, both as to expense and otherwise, " renounce every 
concern in that publication." " By these means." says the letter, 
" the voice of slander which has been raised against your Society 
will be hushed." Notwithstanding these gentle remonstrances, 
couched in terms so flattering to the Neologian wrong-doer, M. 
Haffner, and so contemptuous towards "Christ's faithful soldier 
and servant," M. Bost, the promises of the Strasburg Society 
proved delusive, and by means of what have been justly stigma- 
tized as " artful and mendacious evasions," the Strasburg Neolo- 
gians still sold and distributed the Infidel Preface for nearly two 
years after the time of its first exposure in August, 1819. During 
that interval a donation in money was granted to them to pur- 
chase ,500 Bibles and 250 Testaments, "without the preface." 
Meanwhile, the attention of Earl-street was again called to the 
scandal, and in March, 1821, a stronger remonstrance was de- 
spatched from London. The Strasburg Secretary, annoyed at the 
pertinacity of these remonstrances, replied by complaining that 
" the same spirit of hostility and intolerance which disturbed our 
peaceful Association eighteen months ago ; still works in the dark, 
and pursues us with false accusations and calumnies." But he 
frankly admits that the preface was in their depositories, was 
sought for, was sold, was circulated, although not bound up by 
the Society with its Bibles. " We cannot," he says, "be respon- 
sible for what private persons or clergymen may think proper to 
do." In short, during the interchange of these protocols, no fewer 
than 50,000 copies of this Infidel Preface were circulated in Alsace 
along with Bibles paid for with British money. 

At length, after further remonstrances on the part of Sir 
Thomas Baring, Mr. Drummond, and the Continental Society, 
Dr. Pinkerton was despatched on an embassay to Strasburg. His 
narrative furnishes one of the most curious, and but for the mel- 
ancholy occasion, amusing examples of the diplomacy then pur- 
sued. He tells how carefully he avoided even reading the pref- 
ace, in order that he might be enabled to profess his incompe- 



464 ORIGIN OF DISCUSSION ON CANON OF SCRIPTURE. 

tency to pronounce an opinion on its merits. He declined seeing 
any one before he met the redoubtable Haffner himself, and at 
last, by much fair speech and the aid of the President, succeeded 
in inducing the Professor to move for the exclusion of his own 
preface from the Strasburg depositories, although not from circu- 
lation. It was, in fact, purchased by Baron Turkheim, their 
President ; and in permitting it to be no longer issued by the 
Society, although still patronized and sold or distributed by its 
members, the Baron declares that " the elevated, though Christian 
humble mind of our venerable Yice-President, Dr. Haffner, ap- 
peared in its true light." It is to be regretted that these hollow 
compliments were re-echoed in the Annual Eeport of the London 
Society, and V the generous sacrifices to the principles of our 
common union" are spoken of in " terms of real satisfaction." 

In glancing over the melancholy details of this painful history, 
no one can fail to discern the sad consequences of being, in a re- 
ligious work, " unequally yoked with unbelievers." The Bibles 
were furnished by the British and Foreign, but the preface was 
provided by the Strasburg Society. ~No one charged a single 
member of the Earl-street Committee with sanctioning, far less 
desiring to circulate such Infidelity. Their fault exclusively lay 
in continuing to maintain an alliance with such " an organized 
hypocrisy," with men who were at the same moment attacking 
the Scriptures of truth and persecuting the ministers of Christ. 

But the Strasburg preface was destined to originate a discus- 
sion concerning the integrity of the canon, and the plenary inspi- 
ration of Scripture, which issued in sounder and more established 
views on these important subjects. It was Dr. Pye Smith's in- 
considerate defence of the preface that produced these effects. In 
the exercise of a charity which sometimes conducted him into 
error, the good Doctor made an unwise and ill-judged attempt to 
palliate the mischiefs of the Infidel Preface. In reply to a cor- 
respondent of the "Evangelical Magazine," he strove to represent 
Dr. Haffner as one of those who had sometimes defended the out- 
works of Christianity, although he never entered the gates of the 
temple. Nay, in the warmth of his zeal, he went so far as to say, 
that, although the author was no doubt " a Eationalist," yet in 
some respects his preface was " an interesting and valuable per- 
formance." With reference to this rash proposition, it is right 
to add, that in a private letter addressed in August, 1837, to his 
old antagonist in the " Evangelical Magazine," the learned and 



DR. PYE SMITH'S DEFENCE OF HAFFNER. 465 

pious Doctor, with the amiable candor for which he was pre-emi- 
nent, spoke with regret of the expressions he had used. But 
these expressions were eagerly laid hold of, and, strange to say, 
even copied into the " Church Missionary Register," then edited 
by the Rev. Josiah Pratt. This rendered it necessary for Mr. 
Haldane, Dr. Thomson, and others, to say much more than would 
otherwise have been necessary of the worthless production of Dr. 
Haffner, in which the early history of the Jews is compared to 
the fables of " the heroic ages" of Rome, the prophets are repre- 
sented as "men whom God had furnished with superior mental 
endowments," "unveiling to them the near future, and permit- 
ting them to anticipate the more distant." Daniel had " the art 
of interpreting dreams." Ezekiel, " a very lively imagination," 
and his prophecies "resemble a poetical picture, the only features 
of which we find in the Revelation of St. John," who "modelled" 
his vision after those of Ezekiel and Daniel. The Deity of our 
Lord, the corruption of human nature, the renewing power of the 
Holy Ghost, were of course doctrines which did not fall within 
the scope of Professor Haffner's philosophy, and on the subject 
of prayer he is profoundly silent. Even the character of a pro- 
phet was denied to our Lord, and He was said to have had only 
11 a presentiment of his own death." Dr. Smith had objected that, 
unsound as Haffner was, yet it was most absurd and unjust to 
call him an Infidel. To this Dr. Carson replied, "No, Dr. Smith, 
no ; it is not most absurd, it is not unjust, it is not most untrue, to 
call Dr. Haffner an Infidel, in the sense in which he has been so 
designated. He is worse than an Infidel. Commanding a battery 
on the Christian citadel, he turns his guns, not against the enemy, 
but against the temple of God." An eminent clerical member of 
the Earl-street Committee, misled by Dr. Pye Smith's panegyric, 
on one occasion ventured publicly to express the opinion that, 
after all, there was nothing very bad in Haffner's preface. A 
privileged lay member, amazed at the statement, immediately 
read some of the extracts, when the clergyman started up, and 
interrupting him, begged to retract what he had stated, and earn- 
estly " declared to God" that he had not been aware that it con- 
tained such shocking impiety. Dr. Pye Smith's defence of Haff- 
ner proved the commencement of an important discussion con- 
cerning the inspiration of Scripture, in which Mr. Haldane took 
a prominent part, and will therefore be presently noticed. 

The case of Dr. Haffner's preface was not, however, the only 

30 



466 PROFESSOR LEVADE. 

evidence of the character of the foreign auxiliaries of Earl-street, 
which was brought forward in Mr. Haldane's Second Review. 
The unfaithful translation, called the Lausanne Bible, with its 
fifty thousand spoliations and its objectionable notes, the Hanover 
Preface, the Turkish Testament, and other similar cases, were all 
examples of the evil of associating in such a work with men who 
unscrupulously violated the laws of the Society, and some of 
whom became bitter persecutors of the ministers of Christ. 
Amongst the heads of the Lausanne Bible Society was Dean 
Curtat, who published, what Mr. Haldane says, "I never before 
met with, in any theological discussion, a labored apology for 
spending the evening of the Lord's-day in playing at coords." His 
arguments, drawn from the silence of our Lord and his apostles 
respecting card-playing, might seem a burlesque on the practice 
after the manner of Dean Swift. Another of the leading foreign 
correspondents of the Bible Society, was Professor Levade, of 
Lausanne, who, in his letters, used to boast of "the good result- 
ing from the establishment of a Bible Society in our Canton." 
Although a translator of the Scriptures, and President of the 
Lausanne Bible Society, he was a bitter persecutor ! After Mr. 
T. P. Piatt resigned his office of Honorary Librarian of the Brit- 
ish and Foreign Bible Society, he publicly related, that when, 
as a very young man, he visited Lausanne, his connection with 
the British and Foreign Bible Society did not prevent his being 
on the Lord's-day evening introduced to a party of clergymen 
and .Professors, where he was invited to join in the amusement 
of cards. 

But this was not all. The encouragement given to the un- 
godly was bad enough. This could not, however, be done with- 
out also discountenancing the true ministers of Christ, and that 
at a time of persecution and trial. It would be easy to record 
facts as startling as they are painful, relative to the conduct and 
demeanor of the representatives of Earl-street, when, in the pres- 
ence of the persecutors and the persecuted, they were reduced to 
the necessity of determining whether to endure reproach with the 
people of God, or enjoy the support of His enemies. It is more 
agreeable to throw a veil over such occurrences, and only to al- 
lude to them as a solemn warning against the exercise of such 
worldly policy. M. Cheneviere did not, however, fail publicly to 
make use of these instances of unfaithfulness, as proofs that he 
had been enabled to " rectify" the ideas of the representatives of 



NEOLOGY ON THE CONTINENT. 467 

the British and Foreign Bible Society. The principle on which 
they then acted was thoroughly tainted, but it was a principle 
which had neither been canvassed nor fully examined. It was 
the principle of attempting to secure the circulation of the Bible 
by any means, and especially by the co-operation of the strongest 
and most influential party, without considering whether it con- 
sisted of the friends or the enemies of the Lord. In the Second 
Review, there is a remarkable letter from an eminent Genevese 
pastor, which contains the following passage : — 

" Mr. Roneberg (then Assistant Foreign Secretary of the British and Foreign 
Bible Society), wrote to me that, in passing by Geneva, he could not but laugh 
at seeing these little ones, who think that the whole world should be occupied 
about their four articles of controversy, while the Bible Society has many 
thousand Bibles to send to China, and over the whole world. By this you may 
judge, dear brother, if the old dragon does not know how to make use of Bi- 
ble Societies." "The four articles," adds Mr. Haldane, "include the divinity 
of Christ, and the most important doctrines of the Bible." 

Mr. Haldane's testimonies to the state of the Continent were 
drawn partly from his personal observation, and partly from the 
testimony of many British and foreign correspondents, who fur- 
nished him with details relative to France, Switzerland, Germany, 
Sweden, Denmark, and the North, Poland, Prussia, Holland, 
Hungary, and other places. The Rev. Hugh J. Rose's book, then 
lately published, supplied many details. Professor Tholuck then 
described Germany as little better than a land of Heathenism and 
entire darkness, but it is believed that Tholuck, who was himself 
ill-grounded in the truth, afterwards swerved from his statements 
under the pressure of remonstrant Neologians. The Rev. Syd- 
ney Thelwall, the Rev. Lewis Way, and the late Captain Angas, 
of Newcastle, were amongst his chief English informants. 

Mr. Haldane thus closes this part of his reply to Dr. SteinkopfT, 
with reference to the materials out of which the foreign auxilia 
ries were formed : — 

" In demonstration of the religious, or rather irreligious, state of the Contl 
nent, I have appealed to the voluminous writings, professedly religious, and of 
the greatest celebrity, sent forth by the most learned Professors in the Univer- 
sities . . . And far from resiling from the instances I have given, and the wri- 
tings to which I have appealed, I stand to what I have written,— I explain away 
nothing. I look on the multitudes of presidents, secretaries, and managers of 
Bible Societies — on the hosts of learned pastors and Professors of Divinity 
scattered over Europe, and I challenge the possibility of producing demonstra 
tion more complete on the point which I undertook to establish." 



468 MR. HALDANE'S SECOND REVIEW. 

Mr. Haldane had made good both, of his points. He had 
proved that the Apocrypha was not necessary for the circulation 
of the Bible, and, on the contrary, that it had been forced upon 
those who were averse to the contamination of the Word of God. 
He had further proved, that by forming Associations composed 
of Neologians and Socinians, there had been established on the 
Continent a machinery, by means of which the preaching of the 
Gospel had been arrested, and persecution promoted, by those 
who continued to enjoy the countenance and correspondence of 
the British and Foreign Bible Society. 

But perhaps the most flagrant proof of the wretched conse- 
quences of these unchristian alliances on the Continent, will be 
found in the fact, now almost incredible, that the Bible Society 
was induced, by the dread of giving offence, to refuse to intrust 
Bibles for distribution to such able, holy, and zealous men as Bost, 
Henri Pyt, or Felix Neff, " the apostle of the Alps." Their op- 
portunities, as Continental missionaries, could not be doubted, 
and Lord Teignmouth at first assured the late Sir Thomas Baring, 
that there would be no difficulty in complying with this request. 
But Lord Teignmouth's desire was overborne, and an apology for 
the refusal was found in the jealousy entertained in regard to 
them by the foreign allies of the Society. An indignant remon- 
strance was addressed on the subject by Sir Thomas Baring to 
Lord Teignmouth : — 

" If our Society" (the Continental), said its President, Sir Thomas Baring, 
"were to publish all that has come to our knowledge respecting the conduct 
of the Paris, Geneva, Strasburg, and other Bible Societies on the Continent, to 
whom very liberal aid has been given by the London Bible Society, it would 
very much weaken the confidence placed in these Societies, consisting, as I 
have understood, of a large majority of free-thinkers, who, having neither the 
glory of God nor the good of men at heart, are not fit agents to be employed 
by the British and Foreign Bible Society." 

Mr. Haldane's Second Beview produced a great sensation, and 
excited, as may be supposed, a good deal of irritation in some 
quarters. In Scotland, it confirmed the impression made by the 
Edinburgh statements, and was appealed to in every future dis- 
cussion. Dr. Andrew Thomson characterized it as "by far the 
most powerful essay which has yet appeared on the controversy," 
and declares " that it gives such a view of the Foreign Societies, 
as should make every man tremble at the thought of employing 
them as agents." Its accuracy was peculiarly striking, consider- 



TESTIMONY OF REV. DE. GORDON". 469 

ing the vast variety of facts it deals with, and the large field over 
which it travels. Every effort was made to impugn its state- 
ments, but vague charges of exaggeration or over-coloring were 
all that deserved notice. In a letter written on the loth August, 
1827, Mr. Haldane observes: " Is it not remarkable, that not a 
single statement in either of my Reviews has been disproved ?" 
Among the many testimonies borne by distinguished men to the 
value of these publications, one may be selected. It is that of 
the Rev. Dr. Gordon, who justly ranks as one of the most highly- 
gifted and spiritually -minded ministers of the Free Church of 
Scotland, for whom Mr. Haldane entertained the most affectionate 
esteem. It is contained in a letter addressed to Mr. J. A. Hal- 
dane's son-in-law, Colonel Eckford, C.B., who has served long 
and with distinction in India : — ■ 

" I cannot help alluding to the grand question that has for a considerable 
time agitated the Christian world. I mean the controversy of the Edinburgh 
and British and Foreign Bible Society, about the circulation of the Apocrypha. 
Our venerable friend, Mr. Robert Haldane, has stood forward in apostolic sim- 
plicity and might, the champion of the purity of God's Word. His knowledge 
of the Continent gave him an advantage over the sickly, puling advocates of a 
worldly policy, and in two publications of unrivalled power, he has demolished 
the fairy and fanciful fabric which the compromising circulators of the Bible 
have reared, with the view of impressing the Christians of Great Britain that 
the seat of the beast had already become the garden of the Lord. The public 
mind is not so steadfastly and so generally on the side of truth as we could 
wish, but it will come round. I hope that among the communications you re- 
ceive from this country, you will have these publications, as well as the state- 
ments of the Edinburgh Committee. I cannot express to you the veneration I 
feel for Mr. Haldane's character. Oh, for something more of his spirit, his sim- 
ple, uncompromising, stern adherence to the truth !" 

An extract from one of Mr. Haldane's own letters will serve to 
indicate the temper in which he was so earnestly contending for 
what he believed to be the faith delivered to the saints. During 
the heat of the conflict, about the end of the year 1826, one of 
the few members of the Elected Committee, who had both in 
public and in private assisted in putting down the circulation of 
the Apocrypha, and the employment of Neologian agency, seemed 
ready to faint, and had expressed himself as disposed to shrink 
from any longer encountering the pressure of opposition and 
obloquy to which the opponents of the rulers in Earl-street were 
exoosed. To this Mr. Haldane thus aV.ades : — 



470 LETTER OF MR. HALDANB 

•• 25th December, 1826. 

" I trust that Mr. will not faint in this business, and become weary of 

well-doing. Remind him of the magnitude of the question, which refers to 
the purity of the Divine Word, and the expulsion of that dreadful abomination, 
the Apocrypha — a question which now shakes all Europe, and which was never 
before agitated on its true merits, or to such an extent. Never in his life, it is 
probable, will he have such another opportunity of glorifying God. So far 
from sinking under the persecution and evil-speaking which he has to encoun- 
ter, he should take fresh courage from them, like the Apostle Paul, and like 
him fight the good fight of faith. Let him by no means give up attending the 
Committee, but watch more earnestly and sedulously than ever. Let all of us 
remember the words of God, and not incur the rebuke, ' If thou faint in the day 
of adversity, thy strength is small.' 'If thou hast run with the footmen, and 
they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses ? and if in 
the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt 
thou do in the swelling of Jordan V Most gladly, then, let him rejoice in these 
tribulations. ' Be not afraid of their faces, for I am with thee to deliver thee, 
saith Jehovah.' Could the enemy desire anything better, than that the servants 
of God should flee from their post, like Jonah, and succumb in such a struggle ? 
Let us be followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the prom- 
ises ; and let us imbibe the sentiments, and imitate the conduct, of him who 
said, ' None of these things move me ; neither count I my life dear unto my- 
self, so that I might finish my course with joy !' ' Behold, I come quickly ! hold 
that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.' It is by taking this 
serious view of the subject, that those engaged and exposed to the heat of the 
battle will be enabled to stand, looking not to the things which are temporal, 
but to those which are eternal — to God, and not to man. 

"Most affectionately yours. Robert Haldaxe." 

This message was communicated to the member referred to, and 



•- 



he replied: — 

"You have encouraged my heart and strengthened my hands by your kind 
letter, so full of Christian counsel and consolation. Pray offer my affectionate 
respects to your venerable uncle, and tell him that it shall be my prayer, that 
his holy admonitions may be an effectual means of keeping me steadfast, im- 
movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." . . . 

After saying that those who were contending for the preserva- 
tion of God's "Word might truly say, "the battle is the Lord's," 
and the victory is his, he adds, — 

" But I must stop. You see that your kind letter has rekindled my smoking 
flax. There is to be a meeting on Monday, although it be New Year's-day. I 
think it will be anything but a dies rum. 

" With great respect and esteem, your obliged Friend.'' 

Not long afterwards, Dr. Thomson thus writes : — 

"It is now more necessary than ever for the friends of truth to speak truth, 



LETTER OF MR. HALDANE. 471 

to uphold truth, to propagate truth, and not to be led away by that flimsy, 
mawkish, delusive sentiment, which is so prevalent amongst your men of flaming 
profession, and supersedes all exercise of understanding, and all depth of feeling, 
and all inflexibility of principle in matters of religion. The more I know and 
observe the more am I jealous of its finding its way into Scotland, and impairing 
that honest, substantial, old-fashioned system, which has so long maintained its 
place amongst us. We need improvement, but we must not seek it, for we 
cannot get it, in the South. The Bible Society controversy has opened my eyes 
wider to the fact than ever they were before. The laxity of opinion that obtains 
among you is frightful. Mr. Pratt, in his last 'Register,' tells an awful tale of 
those who prefer an adulterated to a pure Bible." 

Dr. Thomson would have modified his opinion as to "the Soutli v 
had he been spared to see the improved tone of Christian principle 
which, at the Annual Meeting of the British and Foreign Bible 
Society in 1849, gladdened the heart of the late Edward Bicker- 
steth. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

[1826—1833.] 

Mr. Haldane always regarded the certainty of the canon of 
Scripture as the grand point at issue in the Apocrypha contro- 
versy. It was long, however, before this issue was distinctly 
taken, and many vindicated the circulation of contaminated Bibles, 
without considering the practice as one calculated to bring dis- 
credit on the majesty of the Word of God. Dr. Pye Smith's 
apology for HafYner's preface at last introduced the discussion, not 
only as to the canon, but the inspiration of the Bible. His apology 
was, no doubt, a rash act of chivalry, which was partly attributable 
to his own indistinct views on the subject, and partly to a desire to 
throw his shield over the Earl-street Committee. It has been 
already noticed, that in a letter, written in 1837, he himself ac- 
knowledged, with his accustomed candor, that, in regard to Haff- 
ner, he "reflected with sorrow on the tone and manner in which 
he wrote ;" and Dr. Smith was too good a man to allow his pride 
long to triumph over his piety. 

On Christmas-day, 1826, Mr. Haldane writes : — 

" At the end of this week Dr. Thomson's letter to Lord Bexley is to be pub- 
lished; and in next month's 'Instructor' will be the review of the Strasburg 
minutes. That subject demands the greatest attention. Dr. Pye Smith's papers, 
in vindication of Haffner, are the most dangerous that have yet appeared in the 
Apocrypha business. Your answer to him is quite triumphant, but the principles 
contained in his first paper require a full investigation. This has been very ably 
done, at my request, by one who does not wish his name to be affixed to it. 
Your father has read it, and much approves of it. From its deyelopment of 
general principles, it is calculated to counteract the erroneous sentiments of Dr. 
Smith, as well as to be very generally useful. The expense, of course, if it does 
not pay itself, I am answerable for." 

This pamphlet, which Mr. Haldane first proposed to publish in 
London, without the author's name, was " The Review of Dr. Pye 



DR. CARSON. 473 

Smith's Defence of Dr. HafFner's Preface, and of his Denial of the 
Divine Authority of Part of the Canon, and of the full Inspiration 
of the Holy Scriptures, by Alexander Carson." In another letter 
Mr. Haldane writes, that it was now determined that the author's 
name should appear. 

u There will," he says, " be about fifty pages respecting Haffher, and as many 
respecting Dr. Smith's theory of inspiration. The last, on inspiration, is not 
quite finished. They are both most powerful, especially the latter. Dr. Smith 
will find himself matched in learning and everything else." 

In the same letter he writes : — 

" I am also preparing, for separate publication, the two chapters in my first 
volume of 'Evidences on the Authenticity and on the Inspiration of the Scrip- 
tures.' Will you be so good as to read them as soon as you receive this, and 
send me any suggestions'? The question of inspiration is one of the deepest 
moment, and will excite great attention." 

Accordingly, Mr. Haldane first re-published his own treatise 
on the "Authenticity and Inspiration of the Scriptures," an- 
nouncing, as its sequel, " Dr. Carson's Review of Dr. Pye Smith." 
Mighty in the Scriptures and simple in his aim, Mr. Haldane never 
flinched from any contest in which the truth of God was at stake. 
He drew his arguments from an armory with which he was per- 
fectly familiar ; but, knowing that he was not a match for Dr. 
Pye Smith in scholastic learning, philology, or minute criticism, 
he did not himself attempt this warfare. These branches of 
knowledge he neither overrated nor undervalued. The pastor 
of Tubbermore, in the north of Ireland, was a man of deep spirit- 
ual attainments and noble independence ; one whose skill in the 
refinements of criticism, the subtleties of metaphysics, and the 
philosophy of language, was such as to leave him but few com- 
petitors. But, in his isolated position and with his contracted 
means, there was a danger lest his abilities might be unexercised, 
like a piece of artillery which has fallen into a ditch or wants a 
gun-carriage. On various occasions it was, therefore, Mr. Haldane's 
privilege to be able to bring Dr. Carson's talents into the field by 
securing to him at least some reward for his literary labors, and 
always shielding him from loss. For many years a large propor- 
tion of Dr. Carson's works were, from time to time, sent over to 
Edinburgh, and published at Mr. Haldane's expense. One of his 
productions, distinguished for its originality, is an "Essay on 
Figures of Speech." It was written whilst Mr. Haldane was on 



474 MR. HALDANE ON PLENARY INSPIRATION. 

the Continent, and was therefore sent to his brother, who could 
not, however, find a publisher willing to undertake the risk, 
although the celebrated Dr. Thomas Brown pronounced it to be 
a masterpiece. It was afterwards published in Dublin. Another 
work was his "Letter to Mr. Richard Carlile," the Atheist, which 
contains a striking argument, with reference to the character and 
attributes of God, in refutation of Infidelity. The question of 
inspiration was, however, most of all congenial to his tastes, his 
habits, and previous studies. 

More than ten years before, Mr. Haldane had himself published 
a chapter on the plenary inspiration of Scripture, which had 
already attracted considerable attention and established the faith 
of several eminent ministers, amongst whom was the Rev. Marcus 
Dods, author of the valuable work on the Incarnation. It had 
also met with some opposition from those whose minds had been 
perverted by the unwarrantable theory of a graduated scale of 
inspiration, which Doddridge had imported from the German 
innovators who preceded Semler, the father of modern Neology. 
Mr. Haldane's was the first systematic treatise asserting the doc- 
trine of plenary, or, what has been less appropriately called verbal, 
inspiration. But there were subtle objectors, who started puzzling 
questions, requiring to be discussed by a scholar critically ac- 
quainted with the original languages and well versed in all philo- 
logical science. To these difficulties Dr. Carson addressed himself 
in his " Review of Dr. Smith's Defence of the Strasburg Preface." 
It was the first of a series of publications, each written at the 
suggestion of Mr. Haldane, and each published at his risk; so 
that, during a period of nearly ten years, Dr. Carson was enabled 
triumphantly to maintain the field against all comers, while he 
not only defended the Canon, which had been assailed, but, by 
overthrowing one adverse theory after another, proved to demon- 
stration that the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures can never 
be successfully assailed, except through the sloth, the ignorance, 
or the cowardice, of those who choose to surrender without a 
struggle.* 

* The following are some of Dr. Carson's works, relating to the inspiration of 
Scripture, which passed through Mr. Haldane's hands and were published for the 
learned author: — 

1. "Review of the Rev. Dr. Pye Smith's Defence of Dr. Haffner's Preface to the 
Bible, and of his Denial of the Divine Authority of Part of the Canon, and of the 
Full Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures." 8vo., 1827. 

2. " The Incompetency of the Rev. Professor Lee, of Cambridge, for Translating 



PLENARY INSPIRATION. 475 

The value of these works to a student of philology, as well as 
to the plain Bible reader, can hardly be overrated. Of the "Ex- 
amination of the Principles of Biblical Interpretation," it is to be 
regretted that the second part was never completed. In the judg- 
ment of a learned Bishop, it proved the author to be "a first-rate 
scholar." But, away from College libraries, the labor was too 
great, and the second part never appeared. 

With reference to the concessions which Christians are too apt 
to make to Neologians, Dr. Carson thus writes, in a passage that 
marks the unmistakable idiosyncrasy of his style: — 

" The doctrine of verbal inspiration is one of the fortresses committed to 
Christians by Jesus Christ. Dr. Smith cries mercy, and strikes his colors to a 
most contemptible enemy, without ever firing a gun. Had he mustered the 
royal forces and come to an actual engagement with the squalid foe, he would 
have put him to flight at the first fire. He would have found the enemy totally 
without ammunition. There might be, indeed, as much powder as would ena- 
ble him to puff a little, but not to do any execution." 

Dr. Smith had said, that the book of Esther and the books of 
Chronicles, though not inspired, are "very properly included in 
our canon as both authentic and true." Dr. Carson replies, in 
another passage, exhibiting the logical accuracy as well as the 
force and the faults of a style which secured its author against 
plagiarism : — 

"Now what canon? The answer is self-evident: canon of Scripture, What 

or Correcting Translations of Holy Scriptures, proved and illustrated in a Criticism 
on his Remarks on Dr. Henderson's Appeal to the Bible Society." 8vo., 1829. Of 
this treatise it was said, by Dr. Cooke, of Belfast, himself an eminent philologist, 
that it raised his opinion of Dr. Carson, as a philologist, more than all that he ever 
wrote ; that Dr. Carson was enabled, without understanding Turkish, to demonstrate 
from the principles of philology, that, upon Professor Lee's own showing, the Turk- 
ish Testament was incurably bad, and Dr. Lee's defence of it untenable. 

3. "An answer to the Letter of the Rev. Professor Lee, in Reply to the Proof 
and Illustration of his Incompetency for Translating or Correcting Translations of 
the Holy Scriptures." 1829. 

4. " Theories of Inspiration of the Rev. Daniel Wilson (now Bishop of Calcutta), 
Rev. Dr. Pye Smith, and the Rev. Dr. Dick, proved to be erroneous ; with Remarks 
on the ' Christian Observer' and ' Eclectic Review.' " 12mo., 1830. 

5. " History of Providence, as unfolded in the Book of Esther." 1833. Second 
Edition, 18mo., 2s., 1836. This went through two editions, and was published in 
Dublin. 

6. 'Examination of the Principles of Biblical Interpretation of Ernesti, Ammon, 
Stuart, and other Philologists." 12mo., 1836. This is a most learned and elaborate 
specimen of a work which unhappily was never completed. 

7. " Refutation of Dr. Henderson's Doctrine in his late Work on Divine Inspira- 
tion, with a Critical Discussion on 2 Timothy iii. 16." 1837. 



476 THE CANON" AND INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE. 

other canon is the writer here concerned with ? Included in the canon of Scrip- 
ture, while they are not Scripture! Included in the canon of inspired books, 
while they are not inspired! As well may Dr. Smith be included in the peer- 
age, while he is not a peer; or be enrolled among crowned heads, while he is 
but a subject. Include the writings of men among the writings of God, under 
one designation ! Was ever absurdity more monstrous ? 1 had thought that 
the Church of Rome had exhausted all the mines of absurdity, but it seems 
there are some rich veins of unappropriated ore, left to be worked by Protes- 
tant divines, for the support of sophistry. The authenticity of a book does 
not entitle it to be taken into the canon of Scripture. Mathematical demon- 
strations have no more right to a place in the canon of the holy books, than the 
most extravagant romance. They are truths, but they are not the truths writ- 
ten by the Spirit of God, for the spiritual instruction of mankind. The Jewish 
canon was the canon of Scripture, not the canon of authentic books in gen- 
eral. Our canon is the canon of the books acknowledged as inspired, not the 
canon of all true history; Dr. Smith's canon would include all the authentic 
history of all ages and countries. Is not a canon a rule? and what rule ought 
any uninspired book to be in the things of God? ... I thank thee, great 
Jesus, that thou hast not left the making of our Bible to the ingenuity of learn- 
ed doctors. Much of thy wisdom in it appears to them to be folly. Their 
learning is employed in mending thy work, and polishing what thy hand has 
left unfinished. Go, Dr. Smith, enroll thy name with that of him, who, in the 
arrogance of his wisdom, boasted that he could have given a better model for 
creation, had he been admitted to the Divine counsels. But let the Bible alone. 
It is the very wisdom of wisdom. The blemishes that the wisdom of this world 
finds in it, are often its greatest excellencies." 

After putting his own work to press, Mr. Haldane -writes, on 
the 27th of January, 1827, " I am truly rejoiced that the subjects 
of the canon and inspiration have now come forward." He en- 
tertained no apprehensions as to the issue of the combat, and felt 
convinced that it was only from ignorance of their own strength, 
that Christians, like Dr. Pye Smith, had been tempted to abandon 
this citadel to the enemies of the Bible. As an instance of the 
fearful extent to which the opposite spirit had been spreading, the 
following extract is taken from one of Dr. Thomson's letters, writ- 
ten at the same time: — 

"The battle rages in Newcastle. . . . The friends of your (the Earl- 
street) Committee are ruining their credit by eulogizing the Apocrypha. I am 
challenged to disprove its inspiration, and I am dared to prove the inspiration 
of some parts of the Bible, particularly those parts on which Pye Smith has 
put his ban !" 

Mr. Haldane's treatise on inspiration sold rapidly. It was pub- 
lished in March, and, on the 18th of May, he writes that his pub- 
lisher informs him that the demand continued, and only two or 



RAPID SALE OF MR. HALDANE'S TREATISE. 477 

three copies remained. Other editions followed, and the good 
results have been seen in the wide diffusion of scriptural knowl- 
edge on a subject which had been little studied. Dr. Carson's 
writings, notwithstanding his great qualities, were not generally 
popular, and although himself simple in his manners, humble and 
amiable as Dr. Pye Smith himself, the dogmatic power with which 
he denounced error, and the unsparing sarcasm with which he 
unmasked every attempt at sophistry, tended to create a pre- 
judice which it was difficult to surmount. For example, in the 
very first page of his " Eeview," he characterizes Dr. Pye Smith's 
defence of Haffner's " Preface," as "one of the most detestable pro- 
ductions" he had ever seen from the pen of a Christian. Yet for 
Dr. Smith's personal character he entertained a high respect. It 
was not Mr. Haldane's fault if Dr. Carson's writings were not 
more generally sought after, for he distributed, gratuitously, hun- 
dreds of almost every work he published. For example, in a 
letter, dated the 12th of April, 1827, he writes— 

" By mistake only two hundred of Carson's ' Review' were sent to London. 
I intended that there should have been three hundred, that you might consider 
in what way it was best to distribute them. It is so important a publication, 
containing principles so essential and so ably stated, that it is peculiarly adapted 
for England, where many view the subjects of which it treats in a very loose 
and superficial manner." 

The reader has already seen something of the style of Dr. Car- 
son. It is so clear and epigrammatic ; it possesses so much of 
idiosyncrasy and originality, that a paragraph or a sentence of 
his might be picked out amongst a thousand. His concluding ad- 
dress to Dr. Smith is worth preserving. It is equally applicable 
to those who, like Coleridge and his disciples, would deny the 
inspiration of large portions of the Bible, and still say that it 
contains the "Word of (jod. It is not thus that either Deists or 
Pantheists will be convinced: — 

" Let not Dr. Smith vainly imagine, that by throwing the objected books over- 
board, he will be able to keep the ship from sinking, and save the rest. When 
he offers to surrender these books to the Deist, if he knows his business, the 
Deist will not take them from him. He may reply, Dr. Smith, these books that 
you give up to me, are authenticated by him you call your Master, and, by him 
you denominate the great Apostle of the Gentiles. You must acknowledge 
them as yours, or you must surrender at discretion, and give me up all the wri- 
tings of Paul, and all the authority of Jesus. If the one falls, the other will 
fall, of course. Who can depend on Jesus, if he has acknowledged the author- 
ity of a book, which you and I have found to be the writing of a ' wicked Jew ? ' 



478 m. 

What credit can be given to Paul, if he has so egregiously lied about these 
books ? ' Or fight, or yield.' ... Dr. Smith, you are engaged in a very 
unholy cause. Your genius and learning are very ill employed. You are labor- 
ing to unsettle the canon of Scripture, and to unhinge the mind of simple 
Christians, by your speculations. You have denied the verbal inspiration of the 
Word of God, and every kind of inspiration to all the passages that any one 
may choose to consider not of a religious or moral nature, and you close by 
rejecting whole books, on principles that will condemn the whole Bible. Your 
speculations are very crude, your sentiments are self-contradictory, and your 
half-formed conceptions show that you have been too hasty in giving your opin- 
ions to the world. You must go back or forward. Stationary you cannot re- 
main. Make the best use of your learning, but humble yourself before God, 
and seek more of the teaching of his Spirit in the reading of his Word. With- 
out much learning, it is impossible to be a Biblical critic; but all the learning 
of Bentley will be insufficient, without that child-like disposition of the wisdom 
given from on high, which teaches to cry, ' Speak, Lord, for thy servant hear- 
eth.' Mary, the sister of Lazarus, is a better model for a Christian minister 
than Dr. Haffner, the learned Professor of Strasburg." 

There was nothing more important in the history of Mr. Hal- 
dane's labors, than what he did to establish the doctrine of plen- 
ary inspiration. Bather more than two years before his death, 
he had the satisfaction of welcoming another able defence of that 
great truth from the pen of his friend, Professor Gaussen of Ge- 
neva. In a letter from that accomplished and eloquent divine, 
dated Geneva, the 26th of March, 1840, he thus addresses Mr. 
Haldane : — 

" I would much like to see your ' Strictures on Tholuck.' I only know Car- 
son from his excellent ' Treatise on Inspiration.' I have prepared for publication 
on the same subject, a volume, in which I have applied myself to the removal 
of those objections which are made to plenary inspiration on the Continent. I 
will send it to you. It was your writings on that subject, which first made me 
feel the importance of being immovable on that doctrine, and the more I advance, 
the more am I convinced of its truth." 

In another letter, at the end of the same year, M. Gaussen, in 
sending his " Theopneustia," observes : — 

" Allow me to address to you this volume. You will read it with the inter- 
est you take in the subject, but with that which you have in the author. It 
was yourself who first made him feel the truth and the importance of this doc- 
trine, and it was your excellent book, which kindled in him the desire that there 
might appear in French some work adapted to the wants of our Church ; and 
answering the objections which have the greatest run among us. I shall always 
take a filial and fraternal interest in hearing tidings of you, and as to your 
writings, I consider them as bearing more than any other modern works, the 
character of accurate and profound theology. I beg you, very particularly, to pre- 



DR. GORDON'S LETTER, 479 

sent to your brother, Mr. James Haldane, the expression of my respect, and 
my remembrance of his fraternal reception. Adieu, my dear Brother, and re- 
ceive my true and tender regards. 

" Your devoted, L. Gaussen." 

M. Gaussen's "Theopneustia," or "It is written," became a 
magazine of sound argument and information, both on the Conti- 
nent and at home. It has also been translated into English,* both 
in Great Britain and America, and his popularity has become de- 
servedly great. Dr. Chalmers, as Professor of Theology, was 
wont to use as class-books the Treatises both of Mr. Haldane and 
Dr. Carson, so that, at home and abroad, the views on Inspiration, 
which were, at first, scouted by the "Eclectic," as u Mr. Haldane 's 
wild dogma" have come to be taught by authority, and very gen- 
erally received by the soundest divines. There were, in fact, sev- 
eral instances of learned Professors who had previously adopted 
Dr. Doddridge's German theory, who abandoned the erroneous 
and groundless system of gradations, and publicly acknowledged 
the change. This was the case with the late learned Dr. Steadman, 
the head of the Baptist College at Bradford, who told his students 
that, in regard to inspiration, he had been misleading them, and 
that Mr. Haldane's work had convinced him of his mistake. 
He, therefore, proposed to read and comment on Mr. Haldane's 
Treatise, as a substitute for his own former lectures. 

The following extract from a letter of the learned and Kev. Dr. 
Gordon, of Edinburgh, is an answer to those, who have imagined, 
through ignorance of the subject, that in contending for plenary 
verbal inspiration, Mr. Haldane was arguing for ventriloquism, 
as Coleridge imagined, or "for mechanical dictation," as others 
have assumed. Even Dr. Eady, of Glasgow, in his own excellent 
little treatise, has fallen into this extraordinary mistake. No one 
who has attentively read Mr. Haldane's book will entertain such 
a preposterous notion : — 

"I really have nothing to suggest on your chapter on Inspiration. J have 
perused it again, and it appears to me complete. I see that at page 138, you have 
the substance of what I hinted the other day about the varieties to be found in 
parallel accounts of the same transactions. At the same time, I think it might 
be useful to enlarge a little upon it, as I have reason to believe that it is one 
of the strongest points in the estimation of the supporters of degrees of inspi- 
ration. It is evident that the variety militates no more against plenary inspirit- 

* The best translation is that by David Dundas Scott, Esq., published by Messrs 
Johnstone and Hunter, Edinburgh. 



480 THE CLOAK LEFT AT TBOAS. 

tion than against the inspiration of superintendence, if the Holy Spirit sanctioned 
variety, and it might be shown that such variety is of essential importance in 
the Gospel narratives in bringing out very interesting views, which could not 
be exhibited in a single narrative. What would you think of offering some- 
thing in the way of a definition of what you mean by plenary inspiration ? For 
one of the arguments of opponents will be to attach a meaning to the expres- 
sion which you do not attach to it. For example, they will assume that it made 
the inspired writers mere mechanical utterers of sounds. I am aware that you 
have met this fully at page 138, in the paragraph beginning, ' Neither does the 
difference,' &c. But, perhaps, to enunciate it as a proposition might bring it 
more clearly out." 

Another of Dr. Gordon's suggestions which Mr. Haldane so 
justly valued, not only on account of his piety, but of his mathe- 
matical and logical turn of mind, relates to the sophism which 
was so often used during the Apocrypha controversy, to the effect 
that the canon was only a matter of erudition : — 

" It occurred to me that a sentence might be inserted, at part marked with the 
cross X, somewhat to this effect: 'That the integrity of the canon is no more 
a point of erudition than the question whether there be a revelation at all. If 
it be a question whether the books contained in the Bible be those which the 
Jews possessed, and if this question be determined by examining the unbroken 
chain of evidence which has come down from the time of the Jews till the pres- 
ent day, so it may be a question whether the Jews ever received any such 
books ; and if it be lawful to doubt the former question, because it may involve 
what is called a matter of erudition, in the same way the second may be doubted 
without blame, or, in other words, we are at liberty to take as much or as little 
of the Bible as we please.' 

" I don't know if you will perceive the drift of my remark, nor am I sure that 
it would at all add to the strength of your argument. 

" Yours, ever truly, 

"Robert Gordon." 

There is a passage in Paul's last Epistle to Timothy which has 
often been referred to as beneath the dignity of inspiration, that 
passage, namely, in which Paul, whilst incarcerated in the dun- 
geons of the maritime prison, and awaiting his martyrdom, sends 
for the cloak which he left at Troas. Mr. Haldane's exposure of 
the futility of this objection is an example- of his simple, yet forci- 
ble style, and of the power of contrast in which he excelled. 
After some prefatory remarks, he proceeds : — 

"On the approach of winter, in a cold prison, and at the termination of his 

course, the Apostle Paul appears here to be a follower indeed of Him who had 

;iOt where to lay his head. He is presented to our view as actually enduring 

hose hardships which elsewhere he describes in manner so affecting, — 'in pris- 



ANECDOTE OF LORD HAILES. 481 

ons, in cold, in nakedness.' He had abandoned, as he elsewhere informs us, all 
the fair prospects that once opened to him of worldly advantages, for the excel- 
lency of the knowledge of Christ, and had suffered the loss of all things: and 
in this Epistle we see all that he has said on the subject embodied and verified. 
He is about to suffer death for the testimony of Jesus; and now he requests 
one of the few friends that still adhered to him (all the others, as he tells us, 
•laving forsaken him), to do his diligence to come before winter, and to bring to 
him his cloak. Here, in his solemn farewell address, of which the verse before 
as. forms a part, the last of his writings, and which contains a passage of unri- 
valled grandeur, the Apostle of the Gentiles is exhibited in a situation deeply 
■.alculated to affect us. We behold him standing on the confines of the two 
vorhls, — in this world about to be beheaded, as guilty, by the Emperor of 
Rome, — in the other world to be crowned, as righteous, by the King of kings, 
—here deserted by men, there to be welcomed by angels, — here in want of a 
loak to cover him, there to be clothed upon with his house from heaven." 

To assert or defend the authenticity of the canon and the plen- 
ary inspiration of Scripture, was one of the great objects for 
which Robert Haldane lived. To him it mattered not by whom 
the truth was assailed. In the judgment of Dr. Pye Smith, he 
was addicted to u cool reasoning" beyond most men, and after the 
calm study of the Word of God, and the most careful examination 
of the subject, he had arrived at the deliberate conviction that the 
Bible was in all its parts, — in thought, in meaning, in style, in 
expression, in every part, and in the strictest sense, — the work 
and the Word of God. Persuaded of this great truth, he felt its 
power in his heart, and labored with a zeal worthy of all admira- 
tion to beat down the assaults of error and clear away the mists 
of prejudice, doubt, or unbelief. It was this that roused him Jo 
contend as he did against the contamination of the Holy Scnp- 
tures by the foreign agents and continental auxiliaries of the 
Bible Society. " The grandeur of the cause" sustained hir«, and 
that grandeur will be fully appreciated when it is seen in tie light 
of eternity.* 

* There is an interesting anecdote, which was related by the late Fev. Dr. Wal- 
ter Buchanan, with reference to one of the means which seems to hav3 been provid- 
ed in order to secure the New Testament either from interpolation fl corruption :— 

" I was dining," said Dr. Buchanan, ,; some time ago with a literary party at old 
Mr. Abercromby's, of Tullibody (the father of Sir Ralph Abercromby, who was 
slain in Egypt), and we spent the evening together. A gentleman present put a 
question which puzzled the whole company. It was this : Supposing all the New 
Testaments in the world had been destroyed at the end of the third century, could 
their contents have been recovered from the writings of the three first centuries % 
The question was novel to all, and no one even hazarded a guess in answer to the 
inquiry. 

" About two months after this meeting I received an invitation to breakfast with 

31 



482 PROGRESSIVE REFORMATION OF THE BIBLE SOCIETY. 

The Annual Meeting of 1826 commenced a new era in the 
British and Foreign Bible Society, and one of gradual reform. 
But the change was not at first so clearly discerned. On the con- 
trary, apart from the requisition to acknowledge past errors, to 
renounce Apocryphal connections abroad, and to effect some 
changes in the personal administration of the Society, there were 
repeated instances of what at least appeared to be a disposition fo 
revert to the circulation of adulterated Bibles, and, at all events, 
to permit of an agency whose functions were divided between 
pure and impure Bible distribution. This arose partly from the 
fact that the Society had still on hand, in foreign depots, a large 
number of adulterated Bibles ; that, at first, there was also a con- 
siderable stock of stereotype plates, from which more copies might 
be taken at pleasure of the intermingled Apocrypha, and that 
some of the foreigners in whose custody they were, openly disap- 
proved of the Anti- Apocryphal Resolutions, and regarded them 
as, at best, only prospective in their operations. Many a warm 
discussion arose in the Committee out of this state of things, and 
for several years the warfare was in Earl-street carried on by the 
Anti-Apocryphists with more or less success, obtained through 
the aid of privileged members, who occasionally outvoted the 
elected, and once even carried a Resolution amounting to a vote 
of censure on the Secretarj^. 

The majority of the Committee still placed unbounded reliance 
on Leander Yan Ess, although many things had occurred to shake 
their confidence in that Romish priest. The fact that he was a 

Lora Hailes (Sir David Dalrymple) next morning. He had been of the party. 
During breakfast he asked me if I recollected the curious question about the possi- 
bility o" recovering the contents of the New Testament from the writings of the 
three firs, centuries 1 ' I remember it well, and have thought of it often without 
being able to form any opinion or conjecture on the subject.' 

1 ' Well,' laid Lord Haiies, ' that question quite accorded with the turn or taste 
of my antiquarian mind. On returning home, as I knew I had all the writers of 
those centuries I began immediately to collect them, that I might set to work on 
the arduous task as soon as possible.' Pointing to a table covered with papers, Le 
said, 'There have I been busy for those two months, searching for chapters, half 
chapters, and sentences of the New Testament, and have marked down what I found , 
and where I have found it, so that any person may examine and see for himself. I 
have actually discovered the whole New Testament, except seven or eleven verses 
(I forget which), which satisfies me that I could discover them also. Now,' said 
he, ' here was a way in which God concealed, or hid, the treasures of his word, that 
Julian, the apostate Emperor, and other enemies of Christ who wished to extirpate 
the Gospel from the world, never would have thought of; and though they had, 
they never could have effected their destruction.' " 



LEANDER VAN ESS. 483 

priest and a Eomanist threw an air of romance over his zeal for 
the book which is "mighty through God to the pulling down of 
the strongholds" of Popery. It would, however, in those days 
have sounded like bigotry had any one ventured to throw doubt 
on his sincerity. " I would gladly sit at the feet of such a man 
as Leander Van Ess!" exclaimed an eloquent clergyman at a 
Meeting of the Hibernian Society, where the Marquis of Lans- 
downe presided ; and no doubt the noble Marquis was induced 
to believe that the warfare of opposing sects was wearing out, 
and that Eome and Geneva were about to fraternize. After a 
protracted struggle, the Philo-Apocryphists succeeded in gaining 
permission for Van Ess to receive grants of Bibles unbound, on 
the plea that the restrictive Kesolutions applied to Societies, and 
not to individual agents. But the delusion in regard to this re- 
markable priest was not long destined to survive. It was at length 
clearly shown, that besides a salary of 300Z. a-year, and other allow- 
ances, to which there was no objection but their concealment, Van 
Ess had received in money grants 20,000Z. in nine years, and that 
all the while he had in his own person united the characters of 
printer, bookbinder, and bookseller. It was therefore clear, to 
say the least, that he was not the man represented as seeking no 
earthly " treasures where moth and rust corrupt." But, in ad- 
dition to all this, the attention of the Committee was pointedly 
called by one of its ejected members to the startling fact, for more 
than three years known to Mr. Haldane, Dr. Thomson, and oth- 
ers, which seemed to indicate that his practical morality was, at 
all events, no higher than that of some of his order. When ask- 
ed for an explanation as to the lady whom hitherto he had intro- 
duced as his sister, he pleaded the seal of the confessional as an 
apology for a continued mystery. It is needless to add, that he 
ceased to be an agent of Earl-street, and thus, but not before the 
year 1829, one flagrant occasion of contention was removed. 
Happy would it have been for the Society had this course been 
taken in 1824, when Yan Ess adjured the Committee, by that 
name which is above every name, to continue an adulterated Bi- 
ble, and, if necessary, to do so in a manner that would have been 
an evasion. 

The melancholy case of Leander Van Ess has been very lightly 
touched, and it would not have been here touched at all, except 
as another historical fact illustrating the danger of alliances with 
Rome, and proving with how little reason the opposition to such 



484 VAN ESS— ANGELICANUS. 

an agent had been denounced as an example of a bad spirit. 
Well might Mr. Haldane exclaim, " What must be thought of 
the principles of those foreign coadjutors, who did not deem it 
necessary to communicate what they knew of Yan Ess!" Many 
of the most esteemed friends of the Bible Society were deceived 
into a veneration of that Eomish priest amounting almost to idol- 
atry, so that to have "sat in his chair," to have "seen his study," 
or to have passed a day in his presence, was published as an 
honor worthy of record. Other facts might be mentioned of a 
similar purport, but for the desire to avoid painful reminiscences. 
For this reason, the greater part of the discussions occasioned by 
the letters of Anglicanus, the debate about the Septuagint and 
the canon of Scripture introduced by Mr. Gorham, together with 
other matters of the same kind, may be left, with this passing no- 
tice, to sleep in oblivion. In regard to Anglicanus, a few words 
will suffice. His pamphlet was published at the end of 1827, un- 
der a delusive nomme de guerre. The discovery of the editor was 
made by one of those singular occurrences which illustrate the 
adage, that truth is stranger than fiction. The proof sheets of a 
pamphlet, in which Dr. Thomson was the chief butt for ridicule 
and vituperation, were carried by the mistake of a printer's 
boy, to Dr. Thomson himself, and so divulged the editor. It 
might possibly have been better had the secret never transpired, 
and had both the editor and author been able to preserve their 
incognito. The publication of Anglicanus indicated the partial 
division which had taken place in Scotland. The unanimity pre- 
viously subsisting was broken, and a few of the original Anti- 
apocryphists seceded from the Edinburgh Committee, and formed 
first a Corresponding Board, and then an Auxiliary, in connec- 
tion with the London Society. Amongst the chief leaders were 
the Bev. Henry Grey, the Be v. Dr. John Brown, and the Be v. 
Edward Craig. In Glasgow there was also a partial secession, 
headed by the distinguished names of Dr. Wardlaw, Mr. Evving, 
and Dr. Dick. To the publications of Mr. Grey and Dr. Ward- 
law, as well as to the statements of the Edinburgh Corresponding 
Board and the new Glasgow Auxiliary, answers were succes- 
sively written by Mr. Haldane, in no less than six distinct pam- 
phlets, each exhibiting his usual uncompromising steadiness of pur 
pose. Scotland, upon the whole, remained firm in its opposition 
to Earl-street, and Dr. Thomson's efforts to put down everything 
that threatened the integrity of the sacred canon were. unwearied 



DR. THOMSON'S VISIT TO LONDON, 485 

and astounding. In February, 1829, after noticing a meeting at 
Dunfermline, where he spoke for four hours and a half to a 
crowded assembly, who did not separate till past midnight, he 
writes : — 

"I have no fear of conquering, if I have time and strength. But really I am 
obliged to neglect some professional duties, and my bodily frame begins to feel 
weariness. I sometimes wonder that I hold out. The grandeur of the cause 
animates me, and I look to Him whose Word it is that we are defending for the 
strength that is necessary." 

The establishment of the Edinburgh Corresponding Board, and 
the singular discovery of the authorship of Anglicanus, produced 
a great sensation. The Annual Meeting of the Edinburgh Bible 
Society, in July, 1828, was looked for with intense interest. The 
following is an account from Dr. Thomson's own pen : — 

"Our Annual Meeting on Tuesday went off amazingly well. I requested 
your father or your brother to write you a full account of it, as I was too much 
engaged to get that accomplished so early as you wished to hear of the affair. 
Your uncle and Lock hart gave us excellent speeches. The crowd was immense. 
The interest seemed to be deeper than ever, and there was every conceivable 
symptom of our principles and our cause being now triumphant. I opened a 
battery on the Corresponding Board, and fired for three hours and ten minutes. 
I repudiated their laxity of sentiment. . . . The complete sympathy of the 
audience followed. In short, we never had such a glorious Meeting. Your 
uncle was so much impressed, that though in the course of his own speech he 
rather condemned the practice of ruffing (violent applause, beating with the 
feet, &c), and is, you know, very much against it, I detected him more than 
once using his umbrella most vigorously on the platform. This is a capital 
joke I have got against him. He was truly delighted with the whole affair. 
The speeches were taken in short-hand, and are to be published by Whyte. 
Of course, whenever they and the Report appear, I will send you copies for 
yourself and our good friends." 

In the earlier part of the same summer, Dr. Thomson visited 
London, and for six Sundays preached in the Scotch Church, 
Eegent-square. He also held a public Meeting, at which he gave 
an account of the reasons for the continued rupture between the 
Northern and Southern Bible Societies. During this visit many 
of the prejudices against him vanished, and those who had pictured 
to themselves a son of the desert, stern and bigoted in his zeal, were 
agreeably surprised to find him bland and engaging in his man- 
ners, full of the milk of human kindness, with all the generosity 
superadded to the boldness of the lion. Amongst others, he was 
welcomed by the venerable John Simons, of Paul's-cray. It was 
Mr. Simons to whom Mr. Haldane, in his first review, alludes as 



486 DR. THOMSON AT PAUL'S-CRAY. 

a much respected Kector, who said he had "come to town on pur- 
pose to bear his testimony against the horrible idea of man's at- 
tempting to bolster up the Word of the living Grod by a lie. 
Granted, that Eomanists will not receive the Bible without this 
false book being appended to it ; and let all the priests array 
themselves to oppose it ; let there be a pitched battle, and see 
whether God or man will prevail. Can He who gave that Word 
not open a door for its reception ? Or has the Society the pre- 
sumption to imagine that God will go forth to battle with such 
miserable aid to secure his victory ?" 

When Mr. Simons, therefore, heard of Dr. Thomson's being in 
town, he invited him to pay a visit at his Rectory, and welcomed 
him as the champion of the pure Bible, and the assailant of Ne- 
ologian alliances. The venerable old man came out of his Rec- 
tory to the lawn to meet him and his friends, as soon as their car- 
riage stopped, and after a fashion peculiar to himself, bringing 
with him bread and wine, he blessed them in the name of the 
Lord. The blessing Dr. Thomson gladly accepted, but he declined 
the offer of the bread and wine, thinking that it betokened a 
reference too sacred and sacramental. In the evening Dr. Thom- 
son, who was passionately fond of music, accompanied a relative 
of Lord Bexley's on the organ, whilst the great Presbyter himself 
sung and chanted some of the Psalms to the fine old Scottish 
tunes, which are endeared to Scotland by the memory of the suf- 
ferings of their ancestors, from Hamilton, the first, to Renwick, 
the last of the martyrs. It was one of those sunny days, leaving 
behind bright recollections always to be fondly cherished. Short- 
ly afterwards, in one of his letters, as usual fall of life and viva- 
city, Dr. Thomson thus recalls his visit to Paul's-cray : — 

" So Captain Atchison is to be married to Miss Simons. Give my best Chris- 
tian wishes to both. How is the old gentleman 1 I remember him with a sort 
of romantic affection. He is like no other human being I ever met with. The 
perpetual outpouring of his thoughts and feelings, the giving of the sacrament 
on the circular plot of grass, the innocent peculiarities of the dinner table, the 
marvelling that I should not speak when he would not listen, the approbation 
of the organ and the Scotch Psalms, &c, I have more than once recalled to my 
recollection, with melancholy mirth. Good old man! I love him. Give my 
filial reverence when you see him. I beg my very best remembrances to my 
demi-semi Apocryphal friend, Mrs. Haldane, who must have been greatly 
shocked at the affair of Scio's Bible and the attempted concealments of June 2." 

In another of his letters, July 5, 1828, Dr. Thomson exhibits 
the same buoyant elasticity of spirit : — 



» n 



FRIENDSHIP WITH DR» THOMSON. 487 

" Give my kindest regards to Mrs. Haldane, for though we differed somewhat 
the manner, I think we agreed throughout on the matter, of our great con- 
troversy. Accept of my best thanks for all your kind and unremitting atten- 
tions during my residence in your metropolis. I do think and shall always 
think of my visit with feelings of great satisfaction and pleasure. I wish I 
could have stayed three months. — Yours sincerely and affectionately, 

" Andrew Thomson." 

There were those who had predicted that it would be found 
impossible for two such uncompromising chiefs as Dr. Thomson 
and Mr. Haldane to persevere in harmony. Their opponents 
watched for their halting, and tried to separate them. But they 
were disappointed ; for the secret of their union consisted in this, 
that they were not acting a part, but were thoroughly in earnest 
in the same cause. In particular, Aliquis reprinted Mr. Haldane's 
rebuke to the editor of the "Edinburgh Instructor," published in 
1820, and jocosely foretold another chastisement for the editor's 
more recent misdemeanors in the way of levity in the Bible So- 
ciety controversy. Dr. Thomson noticed this, and observed, with 
equal magnanimity and good sense, that the attempt to sow strife 
between brethren would not succeed ; that Mr. Haldane had given 
the "Instructor'' some very sound advice, from which he trusted 
he had profited In fact, his affection and admiration both for 
Mr. Haldane and his brother, " for the truth's sake," increased as 
they went on harmoniously together. He would sometimes use 
the homely Scotticism, which betokened his own humility and his 
panting after more of conformity to the mind that was in Christ, 
that they had " got further ben" than himself; meaning that they 
had penetrated further into the interior of the heavenly mansion. 
Often would he relate with pleasure little traits exhibited by Mr. 
Haldane, of that social hilarity in which he himself so much de- 
lighted, and would tell how welcome were some of the unlooked- 
for evening visits to his house of his venerable friend, and how 
the hearts of his children had been won by little acts of kindness 
and attention. In a letter written in 1829, he says : " Your uncle 
has been ailing, but is now getting better, and the doctor assures 
me he is in no danger. May his valuable life long be spared !" 



CHAPTER XXII. 

[1828—1833.] 

In the midst of the debates relative to the certainty of the 
canon and the plenary inspiration of the Bible, there arose a 
more ephemeral but still an important discussion, in which Mr. 
James Haldane took a prominent part. It related to the preten- 
sions to miraculous powers, and the gift of tongues, assumed by 
the followers of Edward Irving. These assumptions were con- 
nected with metaphysical speculations on the humanity of our 
Lord, which Mr. Irving and his followers were not disposed to 
regard as that "holy thing" spoken of in Scripture. They de- 
scribed our Lord's humanity not merely as fallen, but actually 
sinful. With many of the Irvingites, there is, however, no doubt 
that there was more of metaphysical confusion than of wilful 
heresy mixed up with these unprofitable and dangerous specula- 
tions. Almost from the beginning Mr. J. A. Haldane described 
the peril, and sounded the alarm. The following is an extract 
from a letter dated 11th August, 1827, addressed by him to his 
eldest daughter : — 

I have always been afraid of the system of the prophets, from the moment I 
first heard of it. It has always struck me as being a snare of Satan to lead 
believers away from the fundamental doctrine of Christ, to what is at best but 
a speculation. I remember when I was a child asking Lord Duncan, who was, 
as I saw, much taller and stouter than other men, and of whose great strength 
I had formed a high opinion, whether he thought he'was as strong as the devil 1 
And I asked the question in all seriousness. He told me he was not, and I 
believed him. Now, if I thought myself as strong as the devil, I should be 
less afraid of quitting the plain ground of Scripture, and embarking in specu- 
lative inquiries, but as I do not think so, I am like one who will not venture 
into a dark wood with a person whom he distrusts. I believe the prophets to 
be excellent men, but I dread the subtlety of Satan, and am much afraid ho 
will in some way get an advantage over them, although he may be transformed 



LETTER OF MR. J. A. HALDANE ON IRVINGISM. 489 

into an angel of light. We all require to watch and pray, and then we need 
not fear him." 

But the first development of the error respecting the sinful 
humanity, is thus alluded to in the following letter, written nearly 
a year later : — 

"Edinburgh, 19th June, 1828. 

" Captain Tait will tell you of the dreadful accident at the church of Kirkaldy, 
where Mr. Irving was to have preached, of which, however, you have probably 
already heard. Every one here complains of the want of the Gospel in Mr. Ir- 
ving's lectures, and even of a want of practical application of the doctrine of the # 
coming of the Lord. ... No one will question the importance of the be- 
lief of the personal reign, if it be true, but Mr. Irving has told us it was a sub- 
ject of which the apostles were ignorant, and I am less afraid of erring in 
company with apostles than with Mr. Irving. It is quite different from election, 
for the knowledge of election is essential to just views of the Gospel of man's 
lost estate, and the riches of the grace of God. The apostles could not have 
been ignorant of election. Doubtless, a man may depend on Christ for salva- 
tion, while election is to him a bugbear, but every one who holds that all good 
is from God, and all evil from ourselves, virtually holds election, and this is the 
case with all Christians, however they may express themselves. Mr. Irving 
lately brought forward a very pernicious sentiment, that the flesh of Christ 
was, like ours, disposed to sin, although he was preserved from sin by the 
power of the Holy Ghost. This was inserted in the newspapers, in the account 
of his lecture. I preached in consequence on Luke i. 35, not, of course, re- 
ferring to him. I afterwards dined with him at a large party at your uncle's, 
and the subject was introduced, not by your uncle or me, for we were both 
against its being spoken of. Mr. Irving became rather warm, — at least, seemed 
hurt. I was sorry for it, as he has had a great deal of labor. I liked his con- 
versation on the whole, although he feels himself too much like an oracle. But 
perhaps the discussion may be useful to him, for it is a most pernicious error. 
He rested on the words, "being tempted in all things as a man." This, like 
many other declarations, is true in one sense, and not in another. For every man 
is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. This was not 
the case with Christ, for the prince of this world found nothing in him, no lust 
on which his temptation could operate. Objects of temptation were presented, 
but like a thing perfectly incombustible, on which the fire makes no impression, 
so was the holy mind of Jesus. Considering Christ's human nature as having 
no personal subsistence, but subsisting in the person of the Son of God, two 
distinct natures in one person, the idea of anything verging to unholiness in 
Christ's human nature is absurd." 

This, however, was only the beginning of the evil, and when 
Mr. Irving afterwards advanced language which seemed subver- 
sive of the doctrine of imputed righteousness, and of the founda- 
tions of the Gospel, Mr. J. A. Haldane published a " Eefutation 
of the heretical Doctrine promulgated by the Eev. Edward Irving, 



490 EDWARD IRVING. 

respecting the Person and Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ." 
Rejecting the metaphysical speculations of the Irvingites, and 
bringing their bold but contradictory statements into the light of 
God's revealed Word, the pamphlet is written in a spirit alto- 
gether becoming the disciple of his Master ; but as the danger 
has passed over, it is unnecessary minutely to enter into the 
question. The name of Edward Irving will remain to all time a 
monument of the folly of a proud reliance upon self, and of fhe 
danger of popular applause. His genius, his talents, his elo- 
quence, and his eccentricities, were a snare to him, and but for 
the grace of God, would assuredly have proved his ruin. He bor- 
rowed his doctrine of the sinful humanity from others, and whilst 
the language which he used was awful, and on some occasions bor- 
dering even upon blasphemy, it is only charitable to believe that 
his heresies consisted in the unadvised words of his lips, not in the 
actual rebellion of his heart. Many were led by him to deny 
the imputation of Christ's righteousness, and finally to stumble 
forever on the dark mountains. But although a cloud rests upon 
the closing scenes of Edward Irving's life, there is ground to be- 
lieve that amidst the flickering light of bewildered reason he was 
discovering his errors, and was at last found resting on that rock 
which is Christ. Mr. James Haldane's refutation was the first de- 
cided blow struck at these novelties. It was followed by some 
able reviews in the " Edinburgh Christian Instructor," and after- 
wards by the masterly work of the Eev. Marcus Dods, on the 
" Incarnation of the Eternal Word." Mr. H. Drummond, without 
adopting all of Mr. Irving's heretical language, came to his rescue 
in what he rather facetiously termed, " A Candid Examination 
of the Controversy between Messrs. Irving, Andrew Thomson, 
and James Haldane." Mr. Drummond's acuteness of intellect, 
acquaintance with literature, and smartness of repartee, were 
enough to render his apology both clever and specious. It was, 
to say the least, a diversion in favor of his friend, and a car- 
rying of the war into the enemies' camp, by splitting hairs in 
metaphysics, detecting the inconsistencies, real or supposed, of 
his opponents, and wringing from their language a meaning which 
they never entertained. But the character of his mind was not 
adapted for the details of that patient investigation which the 
great subject in debate demanded. He was too daring in his 
flight, and too eager to exercise himself with things too high for 
finite man. He knew much of theology, but although his percep- 



DISCUSSION WITH MR. DRUMMOND. 491 

ticms were quick, and his reading varied, he had not studied it as 
a science, in its comprehensive principles, its consistent propor- 
tions or its historical illustrations. Hence, it is no matter of sur- 
prise that he did not always distinguish between essential truth 
and the errors grafted on it by human fancy, between "the deep 
things of God" and the false and deceitful lights which emanate 
from the depths of Satan." Hence the inconsistency of his ex- 
traordinary career, during which he has been at one time claimed 
by Geneva, and at another almost welcomed by Rome. Hence his 
support of those wild vagaries which made Edward Irving pass 
away like a blazing meteor, instead of shining as a fixed star of 
the first magnitude. 

Mr. James Haldane's answer to the Candid Examination, pub- 
lished by Mr. Drummond in a volume of two hundred and sev- 
enty-seven pages, was. as Dr. Thomson said, not only able, acute, 
and well-timed, but forever settled the question between the two 
combatants. The collision was to be regretted, but Mr. Drum- 
mond was the assailant. 

" I wrote," says Mr. James Haldane, " to Mr. Drummond with kindness, pri- 
vately, according to the feeling of my heart, but I will not mince matters in 
regard to any man when I think the truth of God is concerned. I am sorry for 
it, but the truth will prevail. It is my prayer that both he and Irving may find 
mercy of the Lord in that day. I am not called on to judge of their state as 
believers, or otherwise, nor do I intend to do so. I shall endeavor to reply to 
his charges, and I trust the Lord will enable me to do it as I ought." Again: 
"I am not puzzled in replying to any of Mr. Drummond's arguments, and this 
is a guarantee against personal jrritation. He is a clever man, but his position 
in life, especially connected with his peculiar cast of mind, is a great snare. 
May the Lord grant that he may find mercy in that day !" 

Mr. Drummond's "Supplement to the Candid Examination" 
displayed more of mortified feeling than it was wise to exhibit, 
and drew forth another rebuke from Mr. J. A. Haldane, against 
whom, in association with Dr. Andrew Thomson, the weapons 
of misplaced ridicule were all pointed in vain. The painful dis- 
cussion died a natural death, along with the dangerous novelties 
in which it originated. At this period Mr. James Haldane 
writes : — 

" I think Mr. Drummond has acted improperly, and he has given me just cause 
of offence ; but, so far as I know myself, I can say, forgive my trespasses as I 
fully and freely forgive this. . . . Were I to meet him to-morrow I should 
do so with as perfect good-will as formerly, and could laugh with him over all 



492 MR. J. E. GORDON. 

of the smart things he has said of me personally. But I think, with grief, that 
he has forsaken the right way, and it is my prayer that God may give him re- 
pentance." 

At the distance of ten years from that time, Mr. James Hal- 
dane, in travelling near Albury, unexpectedly met Mr. Drum- 
mond, then supposed to be absent on the Continent. They shook 
hands with mutual and heart} 7 good-will, like Christians and gen- 
tlemen, as if nothing had occurred to interrupt their cordiality ; 
and, although this brief meeting was to be their last in this world, 
it was to both a source of gratification that they had again met 
and parted with the expression of friendly feeling. 

The Irving controversy scarcely interrupted the progress of the 
discussions respecting the certainty of the Canon of Scripture and 
the foreign agencies of the Bible Society. But, just at the time 
when the confusion occasioned by the doctrinal errors and mirac- 
ulous pretensions seemed to render hopeless the prospect of form 
ing a pure Bible Society, a gallant effort was made, which was 
ultimately crowned with success, although not in the establish- 
ment of a new Institution. The visit of Mr. J. E. Gordon to 
Scotland, in April, 1830, stirred his spirit to make this attempt, 
in the face of all opposition. His appearance in Edinburgh, on 
that occasion, is noticed in the following extract from a letter of 
Dr. Thomson: — 

" You have heard, I suppose, of the doings in the west of Scotland. Mary 
Campbell (afterwards Mrs. Caird), &c, have got the gift of tongues. Mary 
speaks and writes in foreign languages which nobody can interpret. I have seen 
a specimen of one of them. It looks like the Chinese character, but it is arrant 
nonsense. The folks are actually mad. In this marvellous thing many be- 
lieve, — a. writer to the Signet, an advocate, Thomas Erskine himself, Rev. Mr. 
Campbell, of Row, it is said, and foolish girls and old women innumerable. Is 
not all this most melancholy? The tumor has not come to ahead (as they 
say), and must be laid open and discussed. We have formed an auxiliary here 
to the Reformation Society. And what is more, we had discussion for three 
nights in St. George's Church. The scene was somewhat ludicrous. There 
was a solicilor-at-law, with a brown surtout, standing in my pulpit and preach- 
ing the infallibility of the Pope of Rome!!! But Captain Gordon demolished 
him nobly. He reasoned very powerfully and successfully, and altogether man- 
aged his argument skilfully, and was so much an overmatch for his antagonist, — 
and twenty such, — that none of us ministers had any the least reason for inter- 
fering. The crowds were immense, and I hope good is done. Our Society will 
now take active measures against Popery." 

The ability of Captain Gordon, which so much attracted the 
admiration both of Dr. Thomson and his friends, before it was 



DEATH OF DR. THOMSON. 493 

displayed in Parliament, induced them to urge that gallant cham- 
pion of Protestantism to appear at the next meeting of the British 
and Foreign Bible Society, in May, 1831, as the advocate of a 
purer system of management, which should exclude from mem- 
bership Socinians at home and Neologians or Infidels abroad. 
Bat, in the interval, and before Captain Gordon's protest could 
be made, a sudden arrest was laid upon Dr. Thomson, and he who 
was ever foremost in the battle-field, instinct with buoyant life and 
vigor, the assertor of truth and righteousness, became, in the words 
of Dr. Chalmers, suddenly "locked in the insensibility of death." 

Dr. Thomson's character has been portrayed by two illustrious 
writers. That by Dr. Chalmers is one of the happiest exhibitions 
of his own eloquence. That by Dr. M'Crie is worthy of the his- 
torian of Knox and Melville. Both agree that "truth and piety 
and ardent philanthropy" formed the basis of his moral constitu- 
tion. Both agree in their estimate of the colossal grandeur of 
his intellect, the simplicity of his nature, the tenderness of his 
domestic affections, and what Dr. Chalmers terms the "dauntless 
and direct and right-forward honesty that needed no disguise for 
itself, and was impatient of aught like dissimulation or disguise 
in other men." Hence, in the Apocrypha controversy, allowance 
should be made for the righteous indignation that kindled at the 
diplomacy which could fraternize with Cheneviere or Levade, in 
Switzerland, look coldly upon Malan, or refuse Bibles to Henri 
Pyt or Felix Neff; which could pay court to the haughty jSTeologian 
of Strasburg, and frown upon the humble and persecuted Bost. 
There are some who think only of the vehemence with which, in 
his stormy moods, he, Luther-like, assailed even good men, when 
he found them in the paths of error. But it is right, as Dr. Chal- 
mers says, to discriminate between the vehemence of passion and 
the vehemence of sentiment. "His was mainly the vehemence 
of sentiment, which, hunwing him, where it did, into what he 
afterwards felt to be excesses, was immediately followed up by 
the relentings of a noble nature." 

His pow T er over the public mind was great. His sermons on 
the immorality of the stage, for a time almost ruined the Edin- 
burgh theatre ; and his discourses on Infidelity alike prostrated 
the pride of the skeptic and gave confidence to the timid believer. 

Dr. Chalmers' description of his energy in public life is stri- 
king:— 

" And when one thinks of the vital energy by which every deed and every 



494 DE. THOMSON'S FAKEWELL SPEECH. 

utterance were pervaded, — of that prodigious strength which but gambolled 
with the difficulties that would have depressed and overborne other men, — of 
that prowess in conflict and that promptitude in counsel with his fellows,— 
of that elastic buoyancy which ever rose with the occasion, and bore him on- 
ward and upward to the successful termination of his career, — of the weight 
and multiplicity of his engagements, and yet, as if nothing could overwork that 
colossal mind and that robust framework, the perfect lightness and facility 
wherewith all was executed, — when one thinks, in the midst of these powers 
and these performances, how intensely he labored, I had almost said, how in- 
tensely he lived, in the midst of us, we cannot but acknowledge that death, in 
seizing upon him, hath made full proof of a mastery that sets all the might and 
all the prowess of humanity at defiance." 

His last great speech, at the Meeting of the Edinburgh Bible 
Society, in 1830, had in it something both striking and prophetic. 
It might have been intended as a farewell to the controversy. He 
had spoken for nearly three hours and a half to a crowded and 
listening audience, when he closed by claiming the indulgence of 
the Meeting whilst he alluded to himself:' — 

" For the part I have taken in this great and honorable cause, in which we 
are all deeply concerned, and to which I profess myself cordially and unaltera- 
bly devoted, I need not tell you I have suffered much reproach. . . . But I 
have been comforted under the pressure of that evil by many considerations, 
and I trust that, through the grace of God, I shall be able to sustain and triumph 
over it all. (Cheers.) I am quite aware that I have sometimes spoken unad- 
visedly with my lips, and been provoked to say things which I sincerely wish that 
I had never uttered. I have been tempted to print animadversions and expres- 
sions which I earnestly wish could now be wholly and forever obliterated. But 
let justice be done even here, and let me not be made the victim of idle and 
iniquitous clamor. Let it be remembered, that while the things I have alluded 
to as the subject of my unfeigned and perpetual regret, are altogether distinct, 
immeasurably separate, from the real merits of the momentous question that 
we have been agitating, the original assailants were on the other side ; this is 
a matter of historical, undeniable fact. Before I had penned a single sentence 
on the topics of dispute, with the exception of the ' Second Statement,' which 
I was earnestly requested to draw up by the Edinburgh Committee, which was 
adopted by that Committee as their own, after a careful revisal, which was ap- 
proved of and sanctioned even by some of them who are now bitterest in the 
revilings I have been exposed to, and to the preparing of which I will ever look 
back with gratitude and satisfaction — I say, Sir, that before I had written an- 
other sentence in reference to the Apocrypha controversy, I was dragged before 
the public, individually and by name, and loaded with vituperations of the gross- 
est and most vulgar kind. ... I say, Sir, that I was subjected to persecu- 
tors that would have irritated the temper and called forth the retaliations of 
better and wiser men than I can pretend to be. And, though I confess the error 
and deeply bewail it, I cannot admit that my severity of style, which has been 
so sincerely regretted by some and so malignantly denounced by others, has 



MB. HALDANE'S TBIBUTE TO DB. THOMSON. 495 

ihe aggravation of being either wanton or undeserved. Sir, I have fought for 
myself; I have been called to do so ; having withstood to the face and sharply 
rebuked and relentlessly exposed the desecrators of God's Holy Word, I was, 
tor that service, defamed in my character and wounded in my feelings. And I 
really think, that if there had been much of Christian charity among those who 
have branded me with the accusation of violating it, their forbearance and their 
forgiveness would have come close upon the heels of my alleged fault, instead 
of lagging so far behind, or never coming up at all. I have fought also for my 
brethren, — my clerical brethren, who were as much interested in the cause of 
the pure Bible as I was, and who ought, in duty and in kindness, to have given 
me their support; but now a few of them have traduced me for my opposition 
to the London Committee and lavished all their sympathies and praises on the 
adulterators of the Word of life, and where no such violence has been shown, 
there has been too often equivocal attachment or cold desertion. I have 
fought for my brethren, and, verily, from such I have had my reward. But, Sir, 
I have fought for the Bible, the book of God, the record of saving faith, the 
foundation on which rest all our hopes for eternity. I have fought for the Bible, 
and there is a reward for that; there is a reward for it here (pointing to his 
breast); there is a reward for it yonder (pointing to heaven); and that is a re- 
ward which, be he friend or be he foe, no man taketh from me." 

Every sentence of the concluding remarks was received with 
immense cheering. 

His death created a profound and universal feeling of pungent 
regret. Men of all parties combined to do honor to his memory. 
To his family a pension was granted by the Crown, and a sub- 
scription which amounted to nearly ten thousand pounds, was 
raised by the public. It consisted chiefly of comparatively small 
sums, excepting a few contributions from Dr. Thomson's imme- 
diate friends, amongst whom, as donors of 100/., were the names 
of Lord Moncrieif and Mr. Haldane. 

At the next Annual Meeting of the Edinburgh Bible Society, 
he bore a strong testimony to the Christian worth of his departed 
friend. In simple, strong words, he described the many rare and 
valuable qualities of Dr. Thomson, and, whilst glancing at those 
faults which had been so much exaggerated, he observed that, 
looking to the whole tenor of his course, it might still be said, 
that he had "adorned the profession of Christianity by a life 
and conversation becoming the Gospel." Of his great services 
in defence of the canon of Scripture, he remarks : — 

"From the midst of the contest, which he thus maintained for the purity of 
the Divine word, he was not removed till he saw the great cause so far trium- 
phant, the eyes of a large body of Christians in this country opened, the delu- 
ion dispelled under which they had so long labored, and their hearts animated 



496 ANNUAL MEETING OF THE BIBLE SOCIETY IN 1831. 

as to the primary objects of Bible Societies, to circulate the Scriptures in their 
original purity." 

He then alluded to the close of the speech, in which Dr. 
Thomson seemed, as it were, to take leave of the field of his 
arduous struggles, emphatically adding : — 

" And there is no reason to doubt that in the moment when he was sud- 
denly called away, and his spirit returned to him who gave it, he was admitted 
to appear among the spirits of just men made perfect; and that as he had be- 
fore enjoyed on earth the testimony of his conscience, he then received the 
anticipated reward of grace." 

The fall of his illustrious coadjutor was like that of a standard- 
bearer in the field of battle, but it did not, for a moment, shake 
the calm determination of Eobert Haldane. He felt the loss, but 
remarked, " The cause for which he contended will not be lost. 
It is the cause of truth, the success of which depends not on an y 
man, or body of men, but on God." 

The death of Dr. Thomson did not interfere with Captain 
Gordon's determination to bring the matters in discussion before 
the Annual Meeting of the British and Foreign Bible Society in 
May, 1831. But dropping all reference to the Apocrypha and 
other topics, which had been so fiercely controverted, he deter- 
mined to propose a resolution on general Christian principles, 
which should exclude Socinians from the management of the 
Bible Society. That Meeting became famous, for what has been 
justly termed " the noble and intrepid stand," made by Captain 
Gordon, and an interesting and graphic account of it was given 
by Eobert Paul, Esq., of Edinburgh, and afterwards published. 
At first Captain Gordon was heard with attention, and the cheer- 
ing indicated that he had in his favor the sympathy and support 
of a large body of the subscribers. But when he came to talk 
of Socinianism, and to make references to Scripture, he was as- 
sailed from various quarters, by a storm of hissing and confusion. 
At last the Noble Chairman, Lord Bexley, ruled that, as the So- 
ciety was instituted for the purpose of giving the Bible without 
note or comment, so he could not permit* any one to expound or 
preach from the Bible, on the platform of the Meeting. Mr. Paul 
then states, that Captain Gordon having " entered his solemn 
protest against the doctrine, that in a Bible Society, the Bible 
was not to be appealed to, was forced to conclude amidst a scene 
of tumult and disorder, which might almost baffle belief, and de- 
fies description." His seconder, the Hon. and Eev. Baptist Noel, 



TRINITARIAN BIBLE SOCIETY. 497 

was not much more successful. Afterwards the Rev. Rowland 
Hill, although opposed to Mr. Gordon's motion, and approving 
of the Society's acting with men of all opinions, while they con- 
fined themselves to the diffusion of the authorized version of the 
Scriptures, rebuked the disorderly conduct of the interrupters, 
11 which he characterized as being more suitable to a bear-garden 
than a Bible Society," and then quoting the text, " Lift up holy 
hands without wrath and doubting," he added somewhat to this 
effect : — 

" I have seen many hands held up here this day, but can I think that they are 
holy hands? without wrath. I greatly fear that this cannot be said — far less 
without doubting, for that means without disputing. So! as I consider the 
Society to be, by its conduct, this day, virtually dissolved, I shall take French 
leave of you, and be off." 

It would be tedious to pursue the history of the attempt to 
form another Society, with which neither Mr. Haldane nor his 
brother took part, or to detail the very obvious causes of its 
failure. It is enough to say, that without due deliberation, the 
helm was seized by parties who had known little of the previous 
contest, and were not much qualified for the part they had as- 
sumed. It would have been wiser had Captain Gordon and his 
associates declined to act with them, until the basis of union was 
more firmly laid. Still the new Society was launched under a 
name which many, and amongst others both the Haldanes, 
deemed objectionable, and the Trinitarian Bible Society held a 
successful, and rather a brilliant Meeting in Exeter Hall. The 
Rev. Henry Melvill, the Rev. Mr. Brown, Mr. Gordon, and others, 
spoke in a manner that produced a considerable impression. 
But when one member after another, holding views approxima- 
ting, more or less, to those professed by Mr. Irving, was proposed 
to the Committee, and it was discovered that the Rev. Washing- 
ton Phillips, the Clerical Secretary, was himself bewildered in 
doubtful speculations about the miraculous gifts, and fallen hu- 
manit}^, divisions followed, and it seemed needful to adopt some 
measure to stay the mischief. Thus it was that, on the question 
of Irvingism, the Trinitarian Bible Society made shipwreck be- 
fore it reached the ocean. The vessel was subsequently refitted, 
and with the Rev. A. S. Thelwall as its Clerical Secretary, and 
several able and distinguished laymen and clergymen amongst its 
Directors, it has done some good service. But it never regained 

32 



498 PURIFICATION OF THE BIBLE SOCIETY. 

the confidence of the public, and has moved in a comparatively 
limited sphere. 

All this was, no doubt, wisely ordered for the purification of 
the old Society, without its destruction. The Eev. Charles 
Bridges, the Eev. Edward Bickersteth, Rev. J. Haldane Stewart, 
and others, combined in a protest against the absence of prayer, 
and the alliance with Socinians. The excitement produced by 
Captain Gordon's effort in 1831, and the statements made at 
the Meetings of the Trinitarian Bible Society's early meetings, 
brought into the field several new defenders of Earl-street. 
Amongst these were the Rev. John Scott, of Hull, who had all 
along favored Apocryphal circulation, and the celebrated Mr. 
John Joseph Gurney, of Norwich, whose learning and talent, 
and Christian devotedness, rendered him the ornament of the 
Society of Friends. Finally, the Rev. Samuel Wilks, editor of 
ihe " Christian Observer," devoted nearly two entire numbers of 
that magazine to a cause which would have been better served 
"by a frank confession of the evil consequences of an alliance with 
Neologisms and persecutors, than by acrimonious personalities, 
and the clever evasions of charges that could not be openly en- 
countered. To each of these writers Mr. Haldane fully replied in 
distinct pamphlets, and ifj at the distance of so many years, any 
candid inquirer may think it worth while to refer to them, he 
will at least be struck with the fairness, the truthfulness, and the 
fulness of the statements, as well as the high standard of Chris- 
tian principle, to which Mr. Haldane uniformly appeals. In the 
answer to Mr. Scott, he powerfully demonstrates that the errors 
of the Bible Society might be traced to their regarding the circu- 
lation of the Scriptures as an end instead of a means. If ever any 
justification could have been made for Coleridge, when he tried 
to fasten on the Evangelicals of Great Britain the nickname which 
he borrowed from the Infidel writings of the German Lessing, it 
might have been justifiable to charge as hibliolatry, the sin of 
separating the distribution of the Bible from its proper object. 

"In all efforts," says Mr. Haldane, "to distribute the Bible, it ought to be 
kept in view, that the Bible itself cannot bless the world without the imme- 
diate energy of the Spirit of God, and therefore our chief reliance ought to be 
placed on the presence of God, accompanying the Bible. When the contrary 
course is pursued, the people of God will be under temptation to keep silence 
with respect to the end of the Bible Society to save sinners." ..." If God is 
to be overlooked, if Christ is to be forgotten, then let us fraternize with Papi*:. 



REVIVAL OF RELIGION IN SWITZERLAND. 499 

and Socinians. But if all hope rests on the blessing of God, then let us look 
to the Lord Jesus, and trust in his declaration, ' All power is given unto me, 
in heaven and in earth.' " 

Mr. Scott had rather, in the old style of exultation, spoken of 
the success of the British and Foreign Bible Society, as something 
exceeding what had " ever been seen since the cessation of mira- 
cles." Mr. Haldane quietly recommends Mr. Scott, when indulg- 
ing in such flights of fancy, to reflect on what Bishop Wilson had 
said, "I am sure we have little idea in England of the state of 
things abroad. We amazingly overrate the comparative amount 
of good effected by our Societies." But turning to actual fact, he 
calls attention to the revival of religion in Switzerland, which 
had, beyond all doubt, been effected not only without the aid of 
the Bible Society, but in spite of the leading members of its " kin- 
dred institutions," such as Pictet, Chenevierej Curtat, and Levade. 
He contrasts the state of Switzerland as it was when the Secretary 
visited that country, and its appearance when, eight years after- 
wards, the Rev. Francis Cunningham, another agent, was filled 
with admiration at " the advancement in piety," which was then 
so conspicuous. 

" And what," exclaims Mr. Haldane, " what have been the means by which 
this happy change has been effected ? Has it been produced by those to court 
whose favor and alliance the agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society 
'broke through a hedge,' and was guilty of so great an outrage on Christian 
principles. No ! God, in producing it, has wrought it, exclusively, by means 
of his despised followers. He has done more, he has not only wrought it exclu- 
sively by means of his own people, and without the co-operation of the Auxilia- 
ries of the Earl-street Committee in Geneva, but absolutely in spite of them — in 
spite of their efforts to the contrary, seconded, too, by the malignant enmity to 
his cause, of the ' kindred institutions' at Neufchatel and Lausanne, and its Bible 
translators there ! ! ! ' My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your 
ways my ways, saith the Lord.' ' Where is the wise ? Where is the scribe ? 
Where is the disputer of this world V Hath not God made foolish the wisdom 
of this world 1 Such, reader, and for thine instruction mark it well, has been 
the sequel of one of the greatest sacrifices of Christian principles, that is to be 
found in Christian records." 

It was with reference to these solemn facts, that the late Eev. 
William Howels, of Long-acre Chapel, himself an early and ardent 
supporter of the Bible Society, beautifully spoke, at a Meeting, at 
Exeter Hall, on the 20th of December, 1831. After stating that 
the acknowledgment of God in prayer would have been the most 
effective test of membership, he proceeds : — 



500 ME. s. bilk's pamphlet. 

"The British and Foreign Bible Society would then have breathed the atmos- 
phere of heaven. Jehovah himself, with all the shields of troth, would have 
surrounded it, and Soeinians never would have had sufficient temerity to force 
themselves into it. But, having forgot God, when they begun the work, mark 
the consequence ! He has, in judgment, left them to commit an act of suicide, 
unparalleled in the history of the univer:*e. The army of the Lord God of Ho^ts 
has opened its bosom, and invited traitors into it! There is nothing, I repea; 
it, parallel to this suicidal act. . . . All this the penetrating eye of truth 
ought to have foreseen, and the British and Foreign Bible Society would have 
been at this moment one happy band — the orthodox of every name and denom- 
ination, marching hand in hand towards the heavenly Canaan, treading the path 
of life themselves, and inviting others to follow therein ; placing the Word of 
God in the hands of their fellow-sinners, as they passed them by ; bequeathing 
to them the gracious inheritance of the saints in light." 

The answer to Mr. Wilks was the last of Mr. Haldane's Bible 
Society pamphlets. It was addressed to the Bishop of Salisbury 
(Dr. Burgess), to whom Mr. Wilks had dedicated his letters, and 
it is written with all the respect due to his Lordship's position, 
and, in fact, in a tone which drew out the grave remonstrance of 
some of his Covenanting neighbors in the vicinity of Auchingray, 
to whom the idea of owning Lordship in a Prelate seemed a dere- 
liction of principle. Mr. Wilks had been bold enough to defend 
some of the worst acts of the agents of the Society, particularly in 
regard to the persecuted Christians at Geneva ; and whilst he in- 
timates his pity for " the victims, some of the now sainted victims 
of ecclesiastical persecution," he intimates that much allowance 
was to be made for the feelings of the Swiss authorities, " irritated 
by the spirit displayed by certain British travellers and agents, 
and which certainly was not according to the meekness that is in 
Christ," 

Having thus offered a shabby apology for the persecutions, in 
the garb of a most groundless insinuation against Mr. Haldane's 
conduct, Mr. Wilks also observed, that " in the recent revival of 
religion in Switzerland, there are those who are far removed from 
the excesses either of Mr, Haldane 's party or the Genevese Pastor's 
party. Such men, for instance, as M. Gaussen, of Satigny, are 
truly the salt of the earth in that country." 

This allusion to one of Mr. Haldane's dearest and most devoted 
friends, as a contrast to "Mr. Haldane's party," was indeed an in- 
stance of the recklessness of controversy. In the same month, 
M. Gaussen thus wrote to Mr. James Haldane : — " We are going, 
in a few days, to lay the foundation of a temple consecrated to 
the preaching of the truth. It is not far from where your hon- 



501 

ored brother expounded the Scriptures. It was he, in fact, who, 
under God, laid the first stone." The slightest inquiry would 
have satisfied Mr. Wilks that no man had more strongly approved 
than M. Gaussen of the singular prudence and judgment with 
which Mr. Haldane had conducted himself. He would have also 
found that M. Gaussen, viewing Mr. Haldane as the instrument 
by whom the Lord, according to his sovereign good pleasure, had 
been pleased once more to introduce the light of the truth into 
that benighted place, had been affectionately accustomed to de- 
nominate him the second father of the Church of Geneva, — " Le 
second Pere de VEglise de Geneve.' 1 '' 

In noticing Mr. Wilks's charge of fomenting "a furious theo- 
logical war," Mr. Haldane calmly replies : — 

• A short time since I had the pleasure of seeing M. Gaussen at my house in 
the country, where, during his short stay in Scotland, he came twice to visit 
me. I then inquired how it happened that the pastors of Geneva, who were 
so much irritated, did not prevent the students from attending me in the way I 
have described in my ' Letter to Cheneviere V Respecting the cause of their 
irritation, he replied, that my proceedings at Geneva gave the first blow to the 
pastors that they had received, and that, as to preventing the attendance of the 
students, they found it was beyond their power, unless they had dismissed the 
whole of them. Such was the commencement of that ' furious theological war' 
which Mr. Wilks speaks of as 'raging' in Switzerland, evidently intending, by 
the phraseology he employs, to place it in an odious light, ' which,' says he, 
4 Mr. Haldane was one of the chief instruments in promoting.' This war has 
gone on and increased to the present hour, and for the part in it that the Lord 
graciously honored me to take I humbly bless his name, and to Him be all the 
glory!" 

The Bible Society controversy formed too important a passage 
in the history of Eobert Haldane to be lightly passed over. In 
November, 1830, Dr. Thomson, less than two months before his 
own death, in one of the last of his writings thus described Mr. 
Haldane's Anti- Apocryphal writings and labors : — 

"During the whole course of the Bible Society controversy, Mr. Haldane has 
shown himself an able and indefatigable contender for the faith. And in the 
pamphlet which is now before us, he exhibits the same zeal for the purity of 
Scripture, the same accurate and comprehensive power of stating the facts that 
enter into the history of this question, the same acuteness in detecting the soph- 
istry and disingenuousness of his opponents, the same talent for expounding 
and arguing every position that he undertakes to establish against them, and 
the same high-toned principles respecting the sacredness of God's Word, and 
the character of its professed circulators, which he has all along displayed in his 
Anti-Apocryphal career. There are not a few who have labored strenuously in 



£02 PUKIFICATION OF THE BIBLE SOCIETY. 

this good cause, but we know not one to whom the Christian world are more 
indebted for supporting and upholding it amidst the apostasy, or indifference, 
or hostility with which it had to struggle, than Mr. Haldane." 

It was, indeed, a desperate struggle, before which most men 
would have quailed, and although he did not contend for a per- 
sonal triumph, he looked back upon its fruits with deep thankful- 
ness. If, as he said, Dr. Thomson was not removed from the 
scene of combat until he saw the cause for which he labored in 
some measure triumphant, he himself was privileged to witness 
that triumph still more decidedly marked. One by one the Stras- 
burg, the Paris, the Lausanne, the Geneva, and other Socinian ot 
Neologian Auxiliaries, dropped off, and left the Parent Society 
more and more disencumbered of enemies of the Gospel. A 
well-known clergyman who acted as a deputy from the British 
and Foreign Bible Society on the Continent in 1826, reported on 
his return that the mischief was incurable, that "Ideologists had 
been placed on a vantage-ground," and " our connection with them 
was a matter of necessity more than of choice." M. Blumhardt, 
the head of the Missionary Institution at Basle, himself a strong 
Arminian, declared that "the Socinian party, which continues 
very strong, was particularly interested" in maintaining the Apoc- 
rypha for the sake of " enveloping in obscurity, and lowering the 
idea attached to inspiration." But when the means of thus con- 
taminating the Word of God were curtailed, and their own ser- 
vices superseded by the employment of a more Christian agency, 
the Neologians found their influence weakened and their own 
treachery practically rebuked. 

Still more, in 1850, a Eesolution was passed, on the instigation 
of the loyal-hearted and lamented Edward Bickersteth, that the 
meetings should henceforth begin with prayer ; and although the 
method of carrying out that Eesolution was clogged by Mr. 
Brandram's steady and consistent opposition, still the principle 
has been admitted, and it is hoped, will be more fully carried out. 
The true character of the Bible Society is becoming known as a 
religious, and not a mere bookselling Institution, — as a rallying 
point for " the orthodox of every name and denomination." 

Whatever, then, may be said of the evils of that controversy, 
it had, as Dr. M'Crie remarks, the effect of "purifying the moral 
atmosphere, and freeing it from much of the selfishness and du- 
plicity of time-serving with which it was overcharged." In this 
view, the language with which Dr. Thomson closed his last speech 



DR. THOMSON'S SPEECH AGAINST SLAVERY. 503 

Against slavery may be quoted, not only for the eloquence which 
it breathes, but for the truth which it conveys : — 

" Give me the hurricane rather than the pestilence. Give me the hurricane. 
with its thunder and its lightning and its tempest. Give me the hurricane, 
with its partial and temporary devastations, awful though they be. Give me 
the hurricane, with its purifying, healthful, salutary effects. Give me that hur- 
ricane infinitely rather than the noisome pestilence, whose path is never crossed, 
whose silence is never disturbed, whose progress is never arrested by one 
sweeping blast from the heavens, — which walks peacefully and sullenly through 
the length and breadth of the land, breathing poison into every heart, and car- 
rying havoc into every home, enervating all that is strong, defacing all that is 
beautiful, and casting its blight over the fairest and happiest scenes of human 
life, and which from day to day and from year to year, with intolerable and in- 
terminable malignity, sends its thousands of hapless victims into the ever yawn- 
ing and never satisfied grave." 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

[1824—1833.] 

The Bible Society controversy, reckoning from its origin in 
1821, may be said to have extended over twelve years. During 
that period, including bis letter to M. Cheneviere, and his volume 
on Inspiration, Mr. Haldane published no less than fifteen elab- 
orate pamphlets, in which there is much that is of lasting impor- 
tance, and worthy to be rescued from the oblivion of passing time. 

Meanwhile, the winters and summers were very equally divided 
between his town house, No. 10, Duke-street, Edinburgh, and his 
country residence at Auchingray. When in Edinburgh, he never 
allowed any matter connected with the management of his estate 
to absorb his attention, if it could be avoided or postponed. When 
at Auchingray, his mornings were devoted to prayer, the study 
of the Scriptures, and the preparation of his work, but the latter 
part of the day was occupied, both before and after dinner, which 
was at five o'clock, with such matters as might require consider- 
ation in regard to his tenants, his plantations, or other country 
business. His evenings, after eight o'clock, were spent in the 
drawing-room, where he usually sat in a large chair, with a little 
table by his side, and a newspaper or book in his hand, so that 
he could either read, listen, or converse at his pleasure. There 
were few who could be more agreeable, or even fascinating, when 
he found himself in congenial society. The urbanity of his man- 
ners gave little indication of the sternness with which he con- 
fronted error ; and when he was in company with those he liked, 
or wnose knowledge or information he valued, his flow of con- 
versation was at once easy, graceful, interesting and instructive. 
It was never idle or frivolous. He could for a time talk of the 
ordinary topics of the day, — its politics, its remarkable occurrences, 
its prospects. He had a good memory, and a great fund of anec- 



REV. DANIEL WILSON. 505 

dote connected with his own times, the eminent persons he had 
known, the scenes which he had witnessed, and the generation 
that was passing away. But it was on the great truths of the 
Gospel, and the things pertaining to the progress of the kingdom 
of God, that both he and his brother chiefly delighted to dwell. 
On those matters their conversation was at once cheerful, animated, 
and full of edification. There was no constraint, no conventional 
talk about religion, no merely sanctimonious phraseology. It was 
the utterance of the heart, the expression of real feeling, never 
indicating any approach to that Pharisaic style of communication 
which equally chills the doubting heart of the humble Christian 
and repels the man of the world. 

But it must not be imagined that Mr. Haldane was wholly 
absorbed with public matters connected with the Apocrypha con- 
troversy, and the defence of the authenticity or the integrity of 
the Bible and its plenary inspiration. There were many other 
important matters which occupied his thoughts. When MM. 
Olivier, Chavannes, Kochat, Juvet, and other pious ministers, 
became the victims of persecution, and were banished from the 
Canton de Vaud, he placed at Paris, under the care of the two 
MM. Olivier, twelve young men, whom he educated for the min- 
istry in France. The superintendence of their studies, although 
carried on by correspondence, engrossed a good deal of his atten- 
tion ; whilst he was accustomed to observe opportunities where 
letters or presents of books might be useful in enlightening the 
views or encouraging the hearts of his old pupils, or other foreign 
preachers, whether in France or Germany. 

In 1829, partly as connected with the Bible Society controversy, 
and partly with the hidden evils it disclosed, he published a little 
volume, addressed to an eminent clergyman justly respected for 
his talents and piety, who is now also the Metropolitan of India. 
It was as a public man, and a standard-bearer in the Church, that 
the Eev. Daniel Wilson was singled out. Mr. Wilson was a leader 
in the Bible Society, and although not personally implicated in 
many of the transactions which originated the painful controversy, 
yet he was one of its most zealous advocates, and thus became 
mixed up with the defence of its most questionable proceedings. 
He was also an influential member of the Church Missionary 
Society, and Mr. Haldane longed for an opportunity of publicly 
calling attention to the evil of selecting missionaries out of a 
German Swiss Institution at Basle, where he personally knew that 



506 REV. DANIEL WILSON. 

the theology taught was then deeply tainted with Arminianism, 
and by no means free from the poison of Infidel Eationalism. 
Mr. Wilson had just published two volumes of Letters from the 
Continent, which seemed to present a very superficial and mitigated 
view of the Neology and anti-Christian spirit that prevailed in 
places with which Mr. Haldane was himself intimately acquainted. 
The Letters were the result of a hasty summer's ramble, and 
should never have been published with the weight of Mr. Wilson's 
name. It was against the system of worldly policy and false 
expediency which had grown up in the Church, that Mr. Haldane 
wrote, — a system which never in his eyes appeared so dangerous 
as when it sanctioned the desecration of the Bible for the purpose 
of promoting the glory of its Almighty Author. The views which 
he now published were not hastily adopted. In fact, he had been 
long persuaded that the temporizing spirit fostered by some of the 
most illustrious Evangelical laymen had far exceeded the limits 
of Christian simplicity. He conceived that Mr. Wilberforce him- 
self, and what has been termed "the Clapham sect," had associated 
too much with Socinians and ungodly men, as well as with mere 
worldly politicians, for the purpose of promoting the abolition of 
slavery and other objects of philanthropy. When, therefore, 
Mr. Haldane saw the same spirit of compromise pervading plans 
designed to promote the Gospel of Christ ; when he saw those 
of whom the world was not worthy either disowned, or their per- 
secutions unjustly palliated by the convenient charge of impru- 
dence on the part of the defenceless victims ; when in the same 
pages he saw their ungodly persecutors held up to public esteem, 
his spirit was roused within him publicly to expose the evil, and 
to call the attention of the Lord's people to what he considered 
to be the unfaithfulness of which they were unconsciously guilty. 
These were his views, and it was not against individuals that his 
pungent remonstrances were pointed. Throughout the whole 
volume there is, as might be expected, much valuable matter, 
both as it regarded the state of the Continent, the duty of exposing 
error, and the necessity of bringing forward all the doctrines of 
revelation in their proper place, regardless of the offence which 
they may occasion. The signal and continued blessing that had 
accompanied his own labors entitled him to speak with some 
authority as to the advantage of dealing faithfully and without 
compromise. 

The character of the Tracts circulated by the. Society for pro 



ANECDOTE OF ME. HALDANE. 507 

moting Christian Knowledge was another topic which he urged 
on the attention of the Evangelical clergy of the Church of Eng- 
land. His language is strong, sometimes even severe ; but it is 
the language of a man of God, who had in view the judgment-seat 
of Christ rather than the opinion of the world, — of one who loved 
the praise of God more than the praise of men, — of one who was 
in earnest, and wrote not to wound but to correct, not to gratify 
personal feeling, but to vindicate that truth to which he himself 
adhered with the simplicity of a child and the courage of a warrior. 

There is a reminiscence indicating the spirit in which he con- 
ceived and executed this publication. It was late on a Saturday 
night at Auchingray, in the winter of 1829, that he finished it. 
Just before he retired to rest, he found himself suddenly attacked 
by an internal hemorrhage, which at his time of life he conceived 
to be an indication of approaching dissolution. In the morning 
he informed Mrs. Haldane that he wished a messenger to be sent 
to West Craigs for post horses to take him to Edinburgh. Sur- 
prised at the announcement, she observed that she supposed he 
had forgot that it was the Lord's-day. He replied that he was 
unwell, and required medical advice, although he believed that 
his work was done. He added, that he had not slept during the 
night, but had been meditating on the prospect of closing his 
earthly labors, and entering on the rest of an eternal Sabbath. 
Under these impressions, he committed to her care the manuscript 
he had just finished, with a solemn charge to publish it in the 
event of his death, as he was firmly persuaded that the matters 
there discussed were of deep importance to the Church of Christ. 
He said that he had written in no bad spirit, as had often been 
alleged, but that it had been his earnest desire to recall the Lord's 
people to the wisdom of depending more simply on their Master's 
strength, and to the folly of trying to help on the cause of an 
almighty and holy God by the feeble and faithless aids of a worldly 
policy. Happily his illness, although the first premonition of the 
taking down of his earthly tabernacle, passed away, and the result 
proved that his " work was not done," but that much good service 
was still reserved for him on earth. 

Connected with Mr. Haldane's strictures on Mr. "Wilson's pro- 
ceedings in the three great Societies, there is an anecdote beauti- 
fully characteristic of the late Edward Bickersteth. That admi- 
rable and simple-hearted clergyman was dining in company with 
the Bishop of Calcutta, when some one jocularly alluded to the 



508 ON CONTROVERSY. 

public admonition he had received from Mr. Haldane. It was re- 
marked that its severity must defeat its own aim, when Mr. Bick- 
ersteth exclaimed, u Ah, brother, that rebuke will do you and me 
far more good than all the pleasant compliments we are accustom- 
ed to receive." Five years afterwards, Mr. Haldane publicly ex- 
pressed his satisfaction that Bishop Wilson had been called to a 
station of so much usefulness in India, and he listened with pleas- 
ure to every instance which he heard of that distinguished Prel- 
ate's zeal to banish error and defend the truth. One extract from 
this treatise shall be given. Mr. Wilson had said, that in order 
to do good abroad "all controversy about Churches, I had almost 
said about different doctrines, must be avoided." To this Mr. 
Haldane replies, that he does not wonder that Mr. Wilson falter- 
ed in his recommendation. 

" If," he adds, " all controversy about different doctrines, and on the way of 
salvation, ought either 'almost' or altogether to be avoided, then the apostles 
were firebrands, instead of heralds of the Gospel of peace. Their whole minis- 
try, as well as that of the Lord himself, was one continued discussion. The 
Lord Jesus, instead of concealing his disapprobation of the corruption of the 
truth by the Pharisees, exposed all their errors, and declared that every plant 
which his heavenly Father had not planted must be rooted up. The apostles 
never spared the false teachers, nor shunned to declare the whole counsel of 
God, lest the blood of sinners should be on their heads. Instead of enjoining 
on those who proclaim the Gospel to avoid all controversy, they make it an 
essential qualification in pastors to be able to convince the gainsayers. If 
another and more effective method of spreading and defending the truth is now 
discovered, it must establish itself on the ruin of the character of the apostles." 

Mr. James A. Haldane fully sympathized in the same objects 
which occupied his brother's energies, although he was not usually 
so much engaged in the heat of controversy, but was, for the most 
part, quietly laboring with equal zeal in the vineyard of the same 
Master, to whom they had both devoted themselves in early man- 
hood. In one of his letters, Mr. James Haldane remarks : "I see 
many evils, both at home and abroad, which I hope the Lord 
will correct ; but I do not see anything which I can do, unless it 
be to live near to God, and to preach His Gospel where I am 
placed in the course of His providence." He had supreme confi- 
dence in the declaration, "My word shall not return unto me 
void." Instant in season and out of season, he was always at his 
post, and without ever dreaming of rest on this side of the grave, 
continued as much as ever to delight in sounding abroad the 
proclamation of the Gospel. He was not often absent from his 



REV. EBENEZER BROWN. 509 

own church, but occasionally lie was enabled to preach to the 
sailors in the floating chapel at Leith, where his sermons, as com- 
ing from an old seaman, were always welcomed by his hearers. 
At an earlier period, and before the introduction of steam navi- 
gation, he was on one occasion crossing from Kirkaldy to Leith, 
and, according to his manner, entered into religious conversation 
with some of the boat's crew. He observed that seamen wero 
very apt to neglect the concerns of eternity. One of them object- 
ed to this assertion, and boldly challenged him to produce an in- 
stance of a better Christian than Captain Haldane. In a letter, 

he observes, " We dined yesterday at . Lord Decies was 

there, and he told me that as I am to preach next Lord's-day at 
the floating chapel, his relative, the Admiral on the station (Sir 
Kobert Otwa} 7 ), is coming to hear me as an old sailor." The elder 
brother of Lord Decies had been a school-fellow of both the Hal- 
danes, and lived with them at Dr. Adam's. His Lordship was 
himself frequently a hearer of Mr. J. Haldane during the winter 
he resided in Edinburgh. 

His correspondence with his absent children was always delight- 
ful, and a collection of his letters would form another interesting 
cardiphonia of experimental, doctrinal, and practical religion. 
The following contains an interesting account of a sermon preach- 
ed by the venerable Ebenezer Brown, before the future Lord 
Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice of England. The letter is 
dated October, 1823, and was written soon after his return from 
a little tour which he made, through Normandy to Paris and 
Brussels, with one of his sons and the late Mr. Alfred Hard- 
castle : — 

" You saw, in the newspapers, that Brougham and Denman heard Ebenezer 
Brown preach at Inverkeithing. It was not, as we supposed, owing to any 
quarrel of James Stuart's (of Dunearn) with the established minister. They 
asked him if he could give them a specimen of the old Presbyterians. He 
carried them to Mr. Brown's, who knew nothing of their coming, but was told, 
as he went into the pulpit, that two gentlemen of high rank were to be his 
hearers. As usual, he spoke from the psalm which was to be sung, and lectured 
(expounded), and then preached. The subject of the lecture was Acts xvi. 20- 
34. The service was long, but they did not tire ; and, I understand, were high- 
ly gratified by his simplicity and earnestness. Dr. Stuart wrote to him for an 
account of the lecture, and read to me his reply, in which its substance was 
given. It consisted of observations drawn from the passage, such as, that in 
every situation God's people have access to Him ; that the presence of scoffers 
and ungodly men should not prevent them from expressing their dependence 
on God in the ways of his appointment; that He is able to deliver them in 



510 THE HIDDEN MANNA. 

every situation ; and that they may be assured that He will do so at the proper 
time. This, you will see, is a different doctrine from that taught by our friend 
whom we heard (at the Ambassador's chapel) in Brussels. From what I heard 
of the discourse, I should think it more calculated to be useful to them than 
Mr. Irving's orations. Mr. Brown writes, that when he heard who had been 
present, he had been led to earnest prayer that they might obtain a blessing." 

When the Bible Society controversy arose, his supreme rever- 
ence for the Word of God induced him, like his brother, warmly 
to espouse the cause of those who were contending for the integrity 
of the canon and the full inspiration of Scripture. Except as an 
active member of the Committee, he did not, however, deem it 
necessary to take any very prominent part in the public discus- 
sion, and he was, consequently, saved from the pain of all personal 
warfare. At the General Meetings his unction in prayer fre- 
quently pointed him out as one to be asked either to open or to 
close the proceedings. But in the progress of the controversy he 
took a deep interest, and more especially after it came more de- 
cidedly to turn upon the integrity of the canon and the plenary 
inspiration of Scripture. On the 17th of October, 1826, he 
writes : — 

" Dr. Thomson mentioned, yesterday, at the Committee, that Mr. , of 

Glasgow, had publicly said that the canon of Scripture was not yet settled. 
Dr. Stewart, of Liverpool, asked him, among what denomination of Christians 
the canon was not yet settled. I trust that He who ultimately rules all for his 
own glory will bring much good out of this controversy, and that many will be 
led to entertain juster views of the glory and excellency of the Scriptures. I 
preached yesterday on Rev. ii. 17 ; and gave as one reason for the expression, 
hidden manna, that it was covered with the dew, and only found when the dew 
was gone up. The manna was a figure of Christ, the true bread ; and as the 
manna in the wilderness was given with the dew in which it was enveloped (Ex. 
xvi. 14; Num. xi. 9), so is Christ, the true bread, given to his people in the 
Word of God (Rom. x. 17 ; Gal. iii. 2, 5, 6), to which the dew is compared 
(Deut. xxxii. 2; Ps. lxxii. 6; Isa. lv. 10, 11.) The hidden manna promised in 
the text is the manifestation of the glory of Christ bestowed on his people in 
the path of duty (Acts ix. 31), as well as the full enjoyment of Him in glory 
(1 John iii. 2). The white stone refers to the justification of believers. Stones 
are said to have been used in judgment as black and white balls still are. On 
the stone a new name was written. This is an allusion to God's changing the 
names of his people on certain occasions. Abraham was the first who got a 
new name (Gen. vii. 5), so did Sarah and Jacob. Isaac did not, because his 
name was given him by God, before his birth, and as the child of promise (Gal. 
iv. 28) ; he was a remarkable type of Him who is the same, yesterday, to-day, 
and forever. (Heb. xiii. 8.) A new name was always connected with special 
privileges, of which it was descriptive ; and here it is said to be written on the 



REV. DR. COLQUHOUN. 511 

white stone, denoting the acceptance of the people of God, through faith, with 
which is inseparably the sanctification of their natures, or their being created 
anew. (Tit. hi. 5 ; Eph. ii. 10.) This new name, which all believers receive 
(Isa. lxii. 2 ; and lvi. 5), is the name of Christ written upon them. (Rev. iii. 12). 
They are united to him in body and spirit (Eph. v. 30 ; 1 Cor. vi. 17) ; and, in 
virtue of this union, stand in a new relation to God, and have a new character 
and new feelings. This privilege is hidden from the world. (1 John iii. 7 ; 
and 1 Cor. ii. 14.) The change of character is ascribed to hypocrisy or delu- 
sion, but the spirit of adoption, in consequence of their union with Christ, is 
felt only by themselves. (Rom. viii. 15, 16; Gal. iv. 4.) The promise of the 
white stone with name is parallel with Eph. i. 13; 2 Cor. i. 22. These were 
some of the ideas which occurred to me on this passage. It is my prayer that 
you may enjoy much nearness to God, and have much experience of the power 
of his grace on your heart." 

In another letter, written a fortnight later, he alludes to a dis- 
sension which had taken place in the Church of his venerable 
friend, Dr. Colquhoun, of Leith, the author of the valuable work 
on spiritual comfort, whom both he and his brother were accus- 
tomed to regard with much esteem and took much delight in 
visiting : — 

" It is a pity that, in the Doctor's old age, such a dispute should have arisen, 
but I hardly ever saw it fail, when people looked up in an extraordinary degree 
to a minister (as I believe his congregation did to him), that something did not 
arise to sweep away their idolatrous attachment. I have frequently seen the 
same thing in individual members of our Church; so much so, that now I never 
see any person who appears peculiarly ardent in expressions of admiration, but 
1 lay my account that a complete revolution will ere long take place. It is the 
purpose of God to stain the pride of human glory, and his purpose shall stand. 
The nearer we live to Him, the more we are engaged in contemplating his glory, 
his love, and his grace to us, the more willing shall we be that He alone should 
be exalted; and, as He is infinitely exalted above all created conception, so the 
happiness of the whole obedient and intelligent creation will arise and continue 
through eternity in beholding his glory. Did we perceive more of it, it would 
hide pride from our eyes ; but, as when the sun is withdrawn the stars are 
bright, so, when our minds are turned away from God, we hold ourselves and 
the persons of our fellow-creatures in admiration, because of some real or sup- 
posed advantage over others." 

This extract exhibits the habitual frame of his mind ; and his 
observation on the mutability of ministerial admiration naturally 
calls up the recollections of his old friend, Dr. Stuart, of Dunearn. 
He had, at one time, entertained an almost overweening admira- 
tion of the preaching and character of Mr. James Haldane. He 
had written, that to see him a Baptist would be " the consumma- 
tion of his earthly felicity." His wish had been granted, and 



512 DEATH OP DR. STUART. 

with it had come disappointment and change. He was one of those 
who had thus taught Mr. J. Haldane the lesson which he says he 
had learned. Still, nothing had ever occurred to interrupt their 
mutual friendship, and Dr. Stuart continued to the last to express 
a deep sense of gratitude for the spiritual obligations received 
from his former pastor, whose attentions were as great as if Dr. 
Stuart had still been one of his ardently attached congregation : — 

" Edinburgh, 30th May, 1826. 
" Dr. Stuart died last Lord's-day, very suddenly. I saw him on Friday, aud 
had some very pleasant conversation with him. While I was there his son 
John was announced. He had just been telling me how very kind John had 
been since his illness. I got up to go away, that he might see his son. He 
said, he wished there had been time for me to have prayed. I said there would 
be time, and, without any intention or suspicion that it would be the last, I 
thanked God for his kindness to him, in having kept him in the truth, and ex- 
pressed confidence that he would perfect that which concerned him, and then 
went away. On Saturday I asked at the door how he was, and heard that he 
was better, but, as Robert was with me, did not go in. After the evening ser- 
mon, your aunt told me that he had died that day. I went over to George's- 
square, and found that he had taken his breakfast better than usual. Mr. 
White, the surgeon, called, to whom he said, he was sorry he had come that 
day, as he was so much better that it was unnecessary. He was so well that 
his daughter only kept one servant at home, sending the others to church. 
About half-past three he came do>.vn stairs and took a turn in the drawing-room, 
then walked up stairs again, and having sat down, asked for his dinner. His 
daughter went down to hasten it, and returned to tell him it was ready in the 
next room. He got up from his chair, and gave a kind of sigh and fell back 
into her arms. She prevented his head falling on the floor, but could not sup- 
port him. A medical man was soon obtained, but he was gone, I have no 
doubt to be with Christ. I never had before said anything in prayer with him 
about his being kept in the truth, but it has often been in my mind, considering 
Dr. Stuart's temper, his love of novelty, and his constant study of commenta- 
tors, many of them German Socinians, &c. I have often admired the Lord's 
goodness to him, that he was never suffered in any measure to swerve from the 
truth; and it was remarkable that, on that day, I expressed, in his hearing, my 
feelings on that subject for the first and last time. No one took a deeper in- 
terest in all that was going on for the promotion of the Gospel than he did. 
He had strong prejudices, but he was truly a lover of good men, and deeply 
under the influence of the truth. May we be followers of those who, through 
faith and patience, inherit the promises." 

Dr. Stuart had first conceived the idea of the Gaelic School 
Society, and Mr. James Haldane, along with Dr. M'Crie and Mr. 
Christopher Anderson, had been with Dr. Stuart the originators 
of that useful institution. At its next public meeting, Dr. M'Crie 
pronounced a beautiful oration with reference to their departed 



TOUR TO THE NORTH. 513 

friend, which is now published in the appendix to his life, written 
by his son, who inherits much of the talent of his father. One 
sentence must suffice. "In Dr. Stuart," says Dr. M'Crie, "I 
always found the honorable feelings of the gentleman, the refined 
and liberal thinking of the scholar, and the unaffected and hum- 
ble piety of the Christian." 

In the summers of 1829-30, Mr. James Haldanemade two short 
preaching tours, the first in Ayrshire, and the second in the North 
of Scotland. The following are extracts from a letter to his eldest 
daughter, from the same place from which twenty-five years be- 
fore the account of a former journey was addressed to her, then 
a little girl. Her health was already much impaired, although 
she survived many years : — 

« Elgin, 5th July, 1830, 

" Dearest Elizabeth, — I was very happy to hear on Saturday that you 
were all well, and that you are continuing better. I have made out my journey 
remarkably well, and have had many opportunities of preaching, and the people- 
have come out to hear very well indeed. There is a great desire to hear in alS 
the parts of the country through which we have passed." 

He then mentions ten sermons which he had preached in one 
week, between Insell and Elgin, where he spent the following 
LordVday, and where he preached three times. He adds, — 

" We intended to go to Fochabers to-day, but it was proposed that there 
should be a Meeting of the Bible Society to-night, and I agreed to stay. By 
this means we shaJl not preach at Fochabers, but it was do.ubtful whether we 
should get a phiee, and I have not preached in the open air. I am afraid of 
losing my voice, as I did in Ayrshire. We are to be next Lord's-day at New 
Pitsligo, and the following one at Aberdeen. The weather has been tolerable, 
although cold, and sometimes showery. On the whole, we have been very com- 
fortable, and I trust the Lord will make the journey, useful." 

His voice continued powerful even beyond the limits of four- 
score, but it appears from this letter, that even as a sexagenarian 
he found it no longer equal to the prodigious exertions which dis- 
tinguished the first ten years of his active career. The last time 
that he was known to speak in the open air seems to have been 
in Ayrshire, in 1829. Two years, before, he delivered a very 
striking and solemn address in the new Cal ton-hill cemetery, over 
the grave of Mr. John Stirling, one of his most attached people, 
and long a deacon of his church. Mr, Stirling held a public 
office under the Town Council, and was- much and generally re- 
spected. He was " an Israelite indeed, in whom was no guile ; n 

33 



514 DEATH OF JAMES HALDANE. 

and when Mr. James Haldane saw the crowd that had assembled 
to do honor to the departed, he seemed to feel an impulse, which 
induced him, without premeditation, to address them. He began, 
"My friends, you are standing around the grave of a man of 
God !" and after dwelling on the meaning of that lofty title, he 
spoke of the power of the Grospel to save and to sanctify, with an 
energy and a feeling that imposed the deepest silence, and seem -d 
to produce a powerful impression. 

The beginning of the year 1831 was saddened by the death 
of his eldest son, James, a young man, whose vigorous constitu- 
tion but a little while before promised a long continuance of life 
and health. For some time he had, however, complained of what 
appeared to be rheumatism in the head, but the disorder suddenly 
assumed a more serious character, and in spite of the efforts of 
his skilful physician, Dr. Abercrombie, he died on the 24th Jan- 
uary, after a short illness. His end was peace ; and although he 
was unable to speak much, yet he told his father that he had full 
confidence in Jesus, and entertained no fear of death. In a letter 
dated five years before, his father, in writing to his next son in 
London, expresses the gratitude with which he had first discerned 
a work of grace in the heart of him whom in 1831 he followed 
to the grave : — 

"Edinburgh, 23d August. 1826. 

" I have had great pleasure in seeing James. He seems to be under the in- 
fluence of the truth. It is an unspeakable cause of thanksgiving that so many 

of you have been. brought to the Lord. Pray that may be made to taste 

that He is gracious, so that the whole may be enabled to look forward to a 
blessed meeting with your dear mother, and with each other in the mansions 
of bliss. The. first,,Catherine, is, I have no doubt, there already; and, oh! whiit 
an unspeakable blessing would it be, should we all, without one being left, be 
brought with joyful hearts to the presence of Christ, and dwell with him for- 
ever ! Such, I trust in his love and power and goodness, will be the case. It 
is my daily prayer for you all, that you may walk worthy of God, rejoicing iu 
his salvation ; nor do I forget to mention your dear Emma, and little Anne. 
May all be bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord." 

Within a few weeks after the death * of his eldest son, he lost 
an infant boy, by his second marriage, George-Oswald. Shortly 
afterwards, his fifteenth and youngest child was born, whom he 
named James, in memory of him whom he had lost. It was 
shortly after these events that he wrote his "Observations on 
Universal Pardon, the Extent of the Atonement, and Personal 
Assuran.ee of Salvation." It is like all his writings, full, as it hns 



DEATH OF REV. WILLIAM HOWELLS. 515 

been said, "of the marrow of the Gospel;" and the ability with 
which the subject is handled received the approving testimony 
of one of the ablest divines. Dr. M'Crie had received from Mr. 
Robert Haldane a copy of his brother's "Observations on Univer- 
sal Pardon," and wrote on tiie evening of the day on which he 
received it, his "unqualified approbation of the last part, respect- 
in & the assurance of personal salvation." The Doctor observes, 
that he " turned it up first, and could not stop till he had finished 
it." He adds, " The point is of vast importance, both in relation 
to the doctrine of grace and practical religion, and I am sorry to 
say it is ill understood by many of the opponents of universal 
pardon, both within and out of the Establishment." Dr. M'Crie 
concludes by requesting Mr. Robert Haldane to express to his 
brother without delay his "acknowledgments for having so much 
refreshed his spirit," and to tell him, that from the summing up 
of the argument in the conclusion, he has "no doubt he will be 
equally gratified with the discussion of the other topics." 

In the following letter Mr. J. A. Haldane alludes to the death 
of Rev. William Howels, of Long- acre, in London : — 

"Edinburgh, 29th October, 1832. 
<; Mr. Howels' death will make a great blank, but the Lord liveth, and is car- 
rying on his eternal purpose, and everything, little or great, is subservient to its 
accomplishment. Humanly speaking, however, the death of an influential man, 
who opposed the heresies and errors of the day so steadily, is a great loss. 
The Lord has been very merciful to this country ; he has still a goodly number 
of his people here, and in answer to their prayers, I trust he will be gracious 
to the land, although the aspect of things is not bright. We are sure that the 
judgments which are impending will issue in good, in the promotion of the 
glory of God, and the salvation of his redeemed, but no one can say how much 
the people of God may be called upon to suffer. They have been as sheep for 
the slaughter under the Heathen Roman Empire, under Mahometanism, and 
under the Papacy, and perhaps they may have to go through a real sea of afflic- 
tions under the reign of Infidelity. But it will be short. Still we know that 
it shall be well with the righteous ; and in the prospect of the fierce anger of 
the Lord coming upon the nations, they are exhorted to seek righteousness, to 
seek meekness, yet they have no security in regard to escaping affliction. « It 
may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger.' But, says the apostle, 
we are always confident, knowing that whilst we are at home in the body, we 
are absent from the Lord." 

In 1833, Mr. J. A. Haldane visited his eldest surviving son in 
London, and as usual availed himself of every opportunity that 
offered of preaching the Gospel, both in the great Metropolis and 
the neighborhood, as well as on board the steamer. In particular 



516 DEATH OF MR. AIKMAN. 

he enjoyed some pleasant intercourse with his old associate, Mr, 
John Campbell, of Kingsland, and preached in his pulpit to crowd- 
ed congregations, as well as in those of the Rev. Dr. Burder, at 
Hackney, and of the Rev. James H. Evans, in John-street Chapel. 
On the 6th of February, 1834, the following letter to Mr 
Campbell, announces the death of Mr. Aikman, who was the firsi 
called to receive the reward of grace of those who in 1797 went 
forth to proclaim to their fellow-sinners the unsearchable riches 
of Christ: — 

"My dear Friend, — I embrace the opportunity of my son Robert gohig to 
London with his sister Catherine, on her way to India, to write you a few lines, 
and to thank you, in Mrs. Haldane's name, for your little book, which she 
received with much pleasure, both as coming from you, and on account of its 
intrinsic value. I have also to communicate to you what you will have heard 
probably before this reaches you, that our old friend John Aikman fell asleep in 
Jesus last night at seven o'clock. You know he was very ill when he was in 
England, and his health did not improve after his return. About three weeks 
or a month ago he was seized with breathlessness, which he never had had be- 
fore. I saw him after it came on, and he considered it to proceed from asthma. 
However, it rapidly grew worse, and his nights were very painful. Having heard 
that he had become much worse, I called, and saw him on a sofa in the dining- 
room, where his bed had been removed. He was very weak, and spoke with 
difficulty. The last time I saw him was two days afterwards, when he was in 
bed and very feeble. I said, I hoped the Lord was with him. He replied, he 
had every reason to trust him, and. repeated Ps. cxix. 92 : ' Unless thy law had 
been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.' He was very 
weak, and it was a great exertion to speak. I never saw him again. His mind 
afterwards wandered a good deal. I understand he sent for Mrs. Aikman yes- 
terday morning, and took leave of her, and prayed. He has been a very con- 
sistent character, and will be much missed. But his work is done, and he is 
now, I doubt not, with the Lord. It is a very long time since we used to 
meet together in Mr. Black 1 *, but if the night is far spent, and the day is at 
hand, we have no reason to sorrow for the lapse of time. Mrs. Haldane unites 
in kind love to you and Mrs. Campbell. All my family join us. Catherine is 
just going to her sister, Mrs. Eckford, in India. Pray for her. 

" Yours very truly, 

" J. A. Haldane. 

"I do not know if you will see Catherine, as "her stay is to be so short, but 
her sister Margaret and Robert, I hope, will see you." 

Mr. Kinniburgh, in his "Historical Survey," thus notices Mr. 
Aikman's departure: — 

"Mr. Aikman died on the 6th of February, 1834, in the sixty-fourth year 
of his age, and thirty-seventh of his ministry. On the 13th he was buried under 
the communion-table of the chapel, which he had built. Mr. James Haldane, 



DEATH OF ROWLAND HILL. 517 

at the request of the Church and the relatives of the deceased, delivered on the 
occasion, from 1 Thess. iv. 13-18, an able, solemn, and scriptural address to the 
large company and congregation of mourners, in the course of which he bore 
a just and honorable testimony to the faithful companion of his early labors, 
and which was heard with the deepest attention by all present." 

It was the first time Mr. J. Haldane had preached in that chapel 
since the period of the disruption of the original Churches. But 
it was honorable both to him and Mr. Aikman, that nothing had 
occurred to interrupt the harmony of their Christian friendship. 
The substance of the account which Mr. J. Haldane delivered at 
his funeral was published in the H Quarterly Christian Magazine," 
which, during the three years of its existence, was conducted by 
him, and contained many interesting and valuable papers. The 
narrative thus concludes: — 

" Thus has our departed brother finished his course. Through grace he kept 
the faith, and during upwards of forty years maintained an unblemished profes- 
sion of the truth. Few men appeared to live more habitually under its influ- 
ence, or more steadily to view the hand of God in all things. He was an ac- 
ceptable preacher, and firmly maintained the great doctrines of the Gospel. He 
had a natural aptitude for the acquisition of languages, and having been accus- 
tomed to speak French in the West Indies, he was for some time engaged in 
preaching weekly to the French prisoners at Pennycuik. He was, indeed, ready 
to every good work, and his loss will be much felt." 

He was the first to be removed of those who went forth in 1797 
to the highways and hedges to proclaim the unsearchable riches 
of Christ. Mr. Campbell himself survived six years longer. Mr. 
Rate followed next, and last of all, Mr. James Haldane. Rowland 
Hill died in the year preceding Mr. Aikman, but his first mission 
to Scotland was a year after the itinerancy to the north, in 1797. 
The following is an extract from a letter, dated 23d April, 1833, 
referring to Mr. Hill's death: — 

"Rowland Hill has finished his course. His life has been very long, and he 
nas maintained a most consistent character. Everything here is fleeting and 
transitory. The vanity to which all things are subjected is modified by circum- 
stances, and assumes various appearances, but still it is but vanity. Creation is 
travailing in pain for that glorious day when the mystery of God shall be finish- 
ed, when his children shall be manifested, and his righteous judgment revealed. 
The cloud now spread over creation by the introduction of sin will then be dis- 
persed, or rather, it will form the shade which shall give prominence to the pic- 
ture. It will no longer appear a blot upon the Divine workmanship, but will 
be seen to have been the occasion of the grandest display of the wisdom, power, 
and goodness of God, and consequently, to have in the highest degree advanced 



518 DEATH OF ROWLAND HILL. 

the happiness of all his obedient creatures. Satan had established a kingdom 
whose foundations appeared immovable. Mankind had come render the curse, 
and the immutability, as well as the truth and justice of God, seemed to pre- 
clude the possibility of its reversal ; but Satan was taken in his own snare, his 
usurpation was overturned, and he himself made the unwilling instrument of 
exhibiting the manifold wisdom of God. The angels now desire to look into 
the mystery of the Incarnation, but then the curtain will rise, and the glory of 
the consummated plan of redemption, in all its unrivalled splendor, will burst 
upon the universe. May we live under the influence of this animating pros- 
pect! 

" Give my kindest love to Emma and the children. I hope no plague will be 
permitted to come near your dwelling. Mrs. H., and all here unite in kindest 
love to you and yours. 

" Most affectionately yours, 

«J.A. Haldane." 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

[1834—1840.] 

It was one characteristic of Robert Haldane that he seldom did 
anything in haste, and never attempted to effect two objects a* 
the same time. This was the more remarkable on account of the 
energy with which he pushed forward any design upon which he 
had fully and finally decided. His plans were seldom formed 
without much deliberation, but when once resolved, nothing 
stopped him. He "spared no arrows," and it might be said, that 
whatever his hand was put unto, " he did it with all his might.** 
His work on the Evidences of Christianity was first published in 
1816. Soon after his return from the Continent a second edition 
was called for, but " other engagements," as mentioned in his 
preface, interfered. These engagements were the discussions con- 
nected with the Bible Society, and the defence of the canon, so 
that it was not till 1834 that the second edition appeared. The 
enlargements were truly valuable. Several new chapters were 
added.* The introduction was remodelled, "the conclusion" ex- 
panded into three chapters, under the titles of " the Gospel," " the 
various Effects of the Gospel," and "the State of the Heathen 

* The following contains the table of contents of the Third Edition : — 

" The Evidence and Authority of Divine Revelation." By Robert Haldane, E30 
In two vols. Pages 1026. Third Edition, price 12s. 

" Heads of Chapters : — 

' : Vol. I. — 1. Necessity of a Divine Revelation. 2. Persecuting Spirit of Pagan- 
ism. 3. Credibility of Miracles. 4. Canon of the Scriptures. 5. Their Genuine- 
ness and Authenticity. 6. Their Inspiration. 7. History of the Old Testament. 
8. Miracles. 9. Types. 10. Prophecies. 

"Vol. II.— 1. Review of the Evidence from History, Miracles, Types, and Prophe- 
cies of the Old Testament. 2. Expectation of the Messiah. 3. Appearance of the 
Messiah. 4. Testimony of the Apostles. 5. Testimony of the first Christians, 
6. No Contradictory Testimony. 7- Admissions of Opposers. 8. Testimony of Jew- 
ish and Heathen Historians, and Public Edicts of Roman Government. 9. From 
Tradition. 10. From Success of the Gospel. 11. From the Opposition it has en- 




520 ENLARGED EDITION OF THE 

World without the Gospel." If the new edition had contained 
nothing besides the full and striking view of the doctrines of 
grace there exhibited, it would have been more than worth all his 
additional labor. 

As an appendix, there are subjoined some learned authorities 
in favor of the plenary verbal inspiration of the Scripture. Many 
of these were furnished by his friend the learned Professor Pax- 
ton, of Edinburgh, who was desirous to rebuke the ignorance of 
those who spoke of it as a novel doctrine. But whilst Mr. Hal- 
dane admits this list of witnesses in favor of plenary inspiration, 
he carefully explains, that "they are not given in the way of au- 
thority," none being admissible on such a subject except that of 
the Bible itself. 

There is a chapter, also, embracing a branch of evidence with 
reference to the truth of Scripture, which had been almost entirely 
overlooked. It relates to the harmonies of times and the coinci- 
dence of events, many of which, as collected by the celebrated 
French Protestant, Jean Despague, are certainly very remarkable 
But it is a subject that requires to be handled with great caution, 
and it is not surprising that one so little disposed as Mr. Hal dan e 
to indulge in what is fanciful, should, on mature consideration, 
have excluded from his third edition some which he inserted in 
his second. It cannot be denied, however, that many of these 
striking facts, on which we can hardly build an argument, are 
still too remarkable to be regarded as happening by chance. 

When he first sat down to write on the Evidences, he carefully 
re-read several of the most eminent Infidel works, particularly 
David Hume's " Moral Essays," and Gibbon's Infidel chapters. 
The self-contradictions which he brings home to these writers are 
striking. He singles out David Hume as an example of the folly 
of pushing reason beyond its legitimate province, and preferring 
the dubious glimmer of its darkened ray to the pure and steady 
light of Divine revelation. " The whole," says Hume, " is a rid- 
dle, an enigma, an inexplicable mystery. Doubt, uncertainty, 
suspense of judgment, appear the only result of our most accu- 
rate scrutiny concerning this subject." It is a melancholy con- 
fession, and enough to cloud the joy of any rational or thinking 

countered. 12. Prophecies at present Fulfilling. 13. Evidence from Chronologi- 
cal Harmonies, and remarkable Coincidences in Scripture. 14. Gospel. 15. Va- 
rious effects produced by the Gospel. 16. Internal Evidence of the Scriptures 
Conclusion." 



HUMES DEATH-BED. 521 

mind. But Hume's friends had delighted to represent their phi- 
losopher as " treading the common road into the great darkness," 
not only without fear, but actually with gaiety. This was the 
testimony of Adam Smith, the author of the " Theory of Moral 
Sentiments," who also considered Hume " as approaching as nearly 
to the idea of a perfectly wise and virtuous man as, perhaps, the 
nature of human frailty will permit," When Adam Smith thus 
wrote, he knew that Hume had in his lifetime published an essay 
vindicating suicide, whilst in the correspondence, published since 
his death, he not only justifies but even commends adultery. Had 
the picture drawn of the last days of the dying philosopher been 
a true one, it would still have been unspeakably melancholy, and 
it matters little to the faith of the true Christian how an unbe- 
liever dies. Mr. Haldane has, however, stated enough to throw 
some doubt upon these representations. The authority for his 
statements is not mentioned, but it was his neighbor in the coun- 
try, Mr. Abercromby, of Tullibody. The details are curious and 
worth preserving. It happened in the autumn of 1776, very 
shortly after Mr. Hume's death, that Mr. Abercromby was trav 
elling to Haddington with two other friends, in one of those old 
fashioned stage-coaches which Sir Walter Scott has so graphically 
described at the commencement of the " Antiquary." The con 
versation during the tedious journey turned on the death-bed 
of the great philosopher, and as Mr. Abercromby 's son-in-law, 
Colonel Edmonstone, of Newton, was one of Hume's intimate 
friends, he had heard from him much of the buoyant cheerful- 
ness which had enlivened the sick-room of the dying man. 
Whilst the conversation was running on in this strain ; a respect- 
able-looking female dressed in black, who made a fourth in the 
coach, begged permission to offer a remark. " Gentlemen," she 
said, " I attended Mr. Hume on his death-bed, but I can assure 
you I hope never again to attend the death-bed of a philosopher" 
They then cross-examined her as to her meaning, and she told 
them, that when his friends were with him, Mr. Hume was cheer- 
ful even to frivolity, but that when alone he was often overwhelm- 
ed with unutterable gloom, and had, in his hours of depression, 
declared that he had been in search of light all his life, but was 
now in greater darkness than ever. The anecdote has been told 
by those who probably had it from some of the other travellers. 
Mrs. Haldane's version is substantially the same, and Mrs. Joass 
often repeated the circumstances as related by her venerable father. 





522 EXPOSITION OF ROMANS. 

Other testimonies indicate that the philosopher's own friends 
did not themselves possess that confidence which they attributed 
to their hero on his death-bed. One of those anecdotes which 
rendered Mr. Haldane's conversation so interesting, and which 
generally depended on original and authentic information, related 
to Adam Smith. It was one fully believed by those who knew 
the political economist. Speculating as to " the great darkness." 
the philosopher, at the request of Adam Smith — a request quite 
in the spirit of Mr. Strachan's published letter — promised, if it 
were in his power, to meet his friend in the shady avenue of " the 
Meadows," behind George-square, and " tell the secrets of the 
world unknown." Probably the promise was made and received 
during the last days of David Hume, with the same levity as the 
conversation which Adam Smith has actually recorded about 
Charon and his boat. But such was its effect on the author of 
the " Theory of Moral Sentiments" and the " Wealth of Nations," 
that no persuasion would induce him to walk in the meadows 
after sunset. 

No sooner had Mr. Haldane published the second edition of 
his "Evidences," than he bent all his energies to the completion 
of his great work, " The Exposition of the Epistle to the Eomans. " 
Upon this he had been more or less engaged for nearly thirty 
years. Its doctrines had, at once, taught him the sovereignty of 
God, the corruption of man, and the perfection of that righteous- 
ness, which is provided and appointed for the salvation of believ- 
ers. When Mr. Haldane went to Geneva, he had selected this 
portion of Scripture, as furnishing the most systematic view of 
Christian doctrine, in opposition to the Pelagian, Arian, and Ne- 
ologian heresies of the Venerable Company. In the narrative of 
Mr. Haldane's proceedings at Geneva, some account has been 
given of the manner in which he there labored in the Exposition 
of the Eomans. He did the same during two years at Montauban, 
where he published a Commentary, of which two thousand copies 
have been circulated in France. It contained a variety of inter- 
esting doctrinal disquisitions suitable to the low state of religious 
knowledge in France, and arising out of the Exposition of the 
Epistle, but not necessarily connected with it. He also caused it 
to be translated into German, and a large edition was printed in 
that country. But the more he sounded the depths of that portion 
of the Word of God, the more he discovered of its unfathom- 
able riches : and, before publishing his Commentary in English, 



MR. HALDANE AS AN EXPOSITOR. 523 

he determined to obtain all the additional light in his power, for 
the elucidation of the general purport and minutest words of this 
remarkable Epistle. With this view he read and weighed every 
Commentary, ancient and modern, whether in Latin, French, or 
English, which threw light upon the subject, comparing one with 
another, and pondering all with much meditation and prayer for 
the illuminating influences of the Holy Spirit. In the next 
place, he made the Romans the subject of a succession of evening 
lectures on the Lord's-days, to his brother's congregation, and 
continued them, at intervals, for two or three years. They were 
listened to with great interest, and were frequently attended by 
some of the most eminent ministers, and literary or metaphysical 
professors. Each lecture or exposition was the fruit of intense 
study, and when he went to the country, the same portions of 
Scripture were frequently again selected for a different congrega- 
tion. His friends eagerly pressed him to publish an exposition, 
which seemed to them so fully matured, but he still sought new 
light on every passage that was either dark or doubtful. With 
reference to what, in the jargon of German pedantry, is termed 
the Hermaneutics and exegesis, or what, in plain English, may 
be called critical interpretation of the language of the Epistle, he 
knew his own deficiency in the higher branches of Greek scholar- 
ship, and he was rejoiced to have, in Dr. Carson, a philologist 
and critic of the highest character, whose views of doctrine were 
truly scriptural. He, therefore, invited Dr. Carson's counsel on 
those points where his philology and critical skill were calculated 
to throw light on the Epistle, and he found his assistance very 
useful. There was no man who ever had a happier art of laying 
under tribute, for objects which he deemed important, the talents 
and learning of other men. Never sparing himself, he was as 
little careful about sparing trouble to his friends. None who en- 
joyed his intimacy were allowed to leave any talent they possessed 
unemployed. He was either pointing out fields which they might 
occupy themselves, or matters in which they might co-operate 
with himself. He lived as the servant of Christ, and he frequently 
warned others of the danger of hiding their Lord's money. But 
in regard to any aid which he sought and obtained in the elabo- 
ration of his writings, such was his discrimination and independ- 
ence of thought, such the force of his master-mind, that whatever 
aid he thus borrowed, he was enabled to assimilate so as to make 
it substantially his own. "Not used," "to be considered," "to 





524 CHARACTER OF HIS EXPOSITION. 

be returned," " partly used," or " adopted," were endorsements on 
papers, which were furnished, at his request, by Dr. Carson, and 
a few learned divines. With his brother and another relation he 
conversed and corresponded as to every part of the work, in all 
its stages, first when in manuscript, and afterwards in its passage 
through the press. In regard to all his counsellors he consulted 
them as he would a dictionaiy or a commentator, and adopted, 
modified, or rejected their suggestions, with the confidence of 
one, who was at home in his subject, and stood in need of no 
foreign aid. His own words in his preface run thus : — 

" In the following exposition, I have availed myself of all the assistance I 
could obtain, from whatever quarter. Especially, I have made use of everything 
that appeared to be most valuable in the Commentary of Claude, which termi- 
nates at the twenty-first verse of the third chapter. I have also had the advan- 
tage of the assistance of Dr. Carson, whose profound knowledge of the 
original, and critical discernment, peculiarly qualify him for rendering effectual 
aid in such a work." 

His object was not fame, but usefulness. Hence, notwithstand- 
ing the value he attached to minute criticisms, they were for the 
most part laid aside in his publications, where there is little of 
critical or philological learning, except the results. These results 
were, however, most valuable, whilst he himself sticks close to 
the text, and makes it his business, by means of all the aids 
within his reach, and by the exercise of his own judgment, to 
bring out the meaning of the Apostle with fullness and precision. 
In him, as it has been said of Calvin, there was found " the ex- 
emplary union of a severe masculine understanding, with a pro- 
found insight into the spiritual depths of the Scriptures." Hence 
his writings are particularly calculated to be useful in counter- 
acting the erroneous tendencies of an age, when on the one hand, 
with an inundation of Eomanizing and Patristic mysticism ; and, 
on the other, by the still more dangerous Eationalism, which 
seeks to erect a tower by which men shall scale the heavens, 
without being compelled to enter the kingdom of God as little 
children. 

The " Exposition of the Romans" was published in three vol- 
umes. The first, containing five chapters, appeared in 1835, and he 
lived to see it, within seven years, in a fifth edition. The second 
volume came out in 1837, and the third in 1839. Each edition 
of this and every succeeding volume underwent a careful and 
laborious revision. 



CHARACTER OF HIS EXPOSITION. 525 

The " Presbyterian Keview," in an able article, in 1840, ob- 
serves : — 

" It is a remarkable fact, that one of the most satisfactory and useful exposi- 
tions of one of the most difficult portions of Scripture, has Mr. R. Haldane, a 
layman, for its author — and that one of the most copious and not least satisfac- 
tory treatises on the Evidences of Christianity proceeded from the same able 
hand." 

The Eev. Mr. Halley, whose early death closed a brief career 
of bright promise to the Church of Scotland, was the author of 
another and elaborate review of the first volume of the Exposition 
in the same journal. The following is an extract : — 

"We took up this volume. with no ordinary expectations. Its author's works 
on the Evidence of Christianity and the Inspiration of the Scriptures, have 
proved him to be so able a maintainer and defender of the truth, and have been 
so distinguished for comprehensive and vigorous thinking, that an announcement 
of a comment on Romans, from his pen, was identified in our mind with the 
promise of a bold and successful vindication of the leading doctrines of the 
Gospel. Our anticipations have been more than realized. There is, in this 
Exposition, all his usual simplicity and terseness of statement, and all his usual 
firmness and faithfulness of adherence to Evangelical doctrine, with even more 
than his usual grasp and compass of thought. Occasioned principally by the 
republication in this country, under high auspices, of Professor Stuart's work 
on the Epistle to the Romans, it has especial reference to the errors of that calm 
and unimpassione^i, but inaccurate and dangerous writer; while it contains 
many most just and cseful animadversions on the subdued Neology of Tholuck, 
and the frigid criticism and strange perversions of Macknight. On all the topics 
of great and fundamenta\ moment, which meet us in the first five chapters of 
the Epistle, it presents us w ; .t.h the largest and loftiest views. It, holds forth 
the genuine doctrines of grace in their due prominence, and unfolds, with sin- 
gular beauty and effect, the way in which every part of the Divine dealings with 
man contributes to their illustration. And although, being chiefly intended as 
a counteractive to doctrinal errors, and being founded on a purely doctrinal part 
of the Epistle, its main character is that of a work in dogmatic theology, — still 
Mr. Haldane has never fallen into the too common mistake that, in order to be 
rational, we must be cold — that, in order rightly to investigate, we must cease 
to feel — that, in order to ascertain what the mystery of Christ imports, we must 
set aside, for a time, its warm and living influence on the active principles of the 
inner man. On the contrary, amid much of clear and sound statement, of acute 
analysis, and of strong and energetic controversial writing, we meet, not unfre- 
quently, with profound practical remarks, with glowing and ardent descriptions 
of Gospel blessings, with those gentle breathings of sweetness, which show how 
fragrant to the mind of the writer is the message of mercy which is engaging 
his meditations. . . . Although we love philology in its own place, we can 
imagine nothing more refreshing than, after being engaged for a time on the 
dry discussions of Tholuck, or the still more sterile pages of Stuart, to turn tc 



526 



DR. CHALMERS'S OPINION. 








the rich and fertile veins of thought which are opened up in the volumes ol 
Calvin and Haldane. ... Of the learning which appears in Stuart and 
Tholuck, it (Mr. Haldane's work) embodies the results, while it wants the os- 
tentation. In ingenuity, it is equal to Turretine ; in theological accuracy, 
superior. Equally sound with Brown of Wamphray, it has none of it3 weari- 
someness. It is at least as judicious as Scott ; and more terse, pointed, and 
discursive. The only Commentary of Romans that we have read which it does 
not excel, is that of Calvin. Had Melancthon been less scholastic, and on some 
points more decided, his comment, with its noble prolegomena, might have held 
as high a place as any. But as the case is, Calvin and Haldane stand alone — 

the possessors, as expositors of this Epistle, of nearly equal honors 

The two, taken together, will come near our conception of a perfect commen- 
tary ; and the reader, who wishes completely to master the doctrine of justifi- 
cation as developed by Paul, we strongly recommend to study them both." 

Soon after the publication of the first volume, in December, 
1835, he sent a copy, together with his " Evidences," to Dr. Chal- 
mers. The following is his reply : — 

" My dear Sir, — I return you my best thanks for the much-valued present 
of your works, which I very highly esteem, and for nothing more than the nolle 
stand you have made at all times for the purity and fulness of Divine truth. Ever 
believe me, my dear Sir, &c, 

"Thomas Chalmers." 

" Robt. Haldane, Esq." 

Dr. Chalmers styled it "a well-built commentary," and strongly 
recommended it to the students of theology. In his " Sabbath 
Readings," for 1836, under date June 12, he writes : " I am read- 
ing Haldane's ' Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans,' and find 
it solid and congenial food." He also specially acknowledged the 
light he had himself obtained from the exposition of the fifth 
chapter, with reference to "the two .Adams," who are there con- 
trasted, and intimated that he intended, when opportunity oc- 
curred, to give publicity to the fact. Other testimonies to the 
value of the " Exposition'' were borne by some of the ablest 
divines, such as the Rev. Dr. Gordon, the Rev. Dr. Cooke, of 
Belfast, and the Rev. Dr. Duff. In England the Rev. J. Haring- 
ton Evans characterized it as " a rich legacy to the Church of 
Christ ;" and the late venerable Mr. Biddulph, of Bristol, " blessed 
God that he had lived to see so faithful a development of Chris- 
tian doctrine." The Rev. Dr. Duff, before leaving Britain for the 
scene of his noble warfare in India, thus closes a letter to Mr. 
Haldane: — 



It has long been an ardent wish on my part, that I might be privileged with 



MACKNIGHT, STL 7 ART, AND THOLUCK. 527 

the pleasure and the profit of an interview with one whom I sincerely admire 
and esteem and love as a father in Christ; and if the Lord will, I trust that 
privilege and profit is yet in store for me before I finally quit these shores. 
" Yours, most sincerely and gratefully, 

"Alexander Duff." 

In the course of the " Exposition" Mr. Haldane specially called 
attention to the grievous errors of three other commentators, 
namely, Macknight, Moses Stuart, and Tholuck ; the first a Scotch 
Presbyterian, the second an American Independent, and the third 
a German Lutheran. With reference to Macknight, he was an 
able critic, but evidently neither intellectually knew, nor experi- 
mentally felt, the truths about which he was occupied. It is not, 
then, wonderful that "audacious heterodoxy," as has been justly 
said, should pervade his works. Professor Moses Stuart, in his 
"Commentary on the Romans," disclaimed "a sermonizing com- 
mentary ;" but Mr. Haldane observes, — " There is no complaint 
with respect to the propriety of confining himself to the work of 
a critic and translator. The complaint is, that, by false criticism, 
he has misrepresented the Divine Testimony in some of the most 
momentous points in the scheme of Christianity." In an appendix 
to his third volume, Mr. Haldane points out consecutively the 
great and fundamental errors of this Professor, and yet there was 
a time when, even evangelical divines, attracted by the appear- 
ance of critical research, had been induced to recommend his 
writings. A late admirable clergyman, the Rev. Francis Goode, 
acknowledged his obligations to Mr. Haldane, for having called 
his attention to the dangers of a commentary which he had him- 
self been induced to recommend, in consequence of the manner in 
which it had been reviewed. 

Next to Moses Stuart comes Professor Tholuck, of Halle, who 
at one time obtained considerable credit by his exposure of the 
Pantheism of Strauss and other German Infidels. But his own 
views, as to the supreme authority of the Scriptures, were lamen- 
tably deficient ; and the want of reverence for the written Word 
totally unfitted him for the office of its interpreter. In fact, his 
writings abound with false doctrine and startling Neology, as may 
be seen by reference to another appendix to Mr. Haldane's 
11 Exposition." 

With regard to Tholuck, he was induced to publish two suc- 
cessive and elaborate pamphlets, the one "For the Consideration 
of the Church of Scotland," and the other, " Further Considers 



528 ANNUITY-TAX. 

tions," &c. The first of these pamphlets was occasioned by the 
translation into English of Tholuck's commentary, by the Rev. 
W. Menzies, a minister of the Scottish Church. The second was 
a rejoinder to that gentleman's reply. Independently of false 
doctrine, Professor Tholuck's want of reverence for the Word of 
God is deplorable. He unscrupulously charges the Apostle Paul 
with various errors, arising from " forgetfulness ;" with "making 
a false construction ;" and apologizes for supposed blunders by 
" imagining that Paul was here called away, and that, upon re- 
suming his pen, he supposed that he had begun a new sentence." 
Still more flagrant examples are given, as in the case of the apos- 
tle and evangelist Matthew, whose writings he does not fear to 
blaspheme, by applying to them several opprobrious names, such 
as "so contemptible a Gospel." "Thus," says Mr. Haldane, 
" every idea of the inspiration of Scripture is exploded by Mr. 
Tholuck. Here is Neology in its very root. ISTo words can ex- 
press the abhorrence that ought to be felt at such liberties taken 
with the "Word of God." 

Yet deep and burning as is the indignation with which Mr. 
Haldane repelled these profane attacks upon the Scriptures, for 
Mr. Tholuck personally, he showed much kind feeling, making 
allowance for the awful school of infidelity in which he had been 
educated ; and willing to encourage the hope that, amidst deep 
spiritual blindness, and in spite of his partial infidelity, he might 
still be numbered amongst those who "see men as trees walking." 

At the end of 1837 a public discussion arose, with reference to 
the duty of paying tribute. His antagonist in this case was a 
very learned minister of the United Secession Church, the Rev. 
Dr. John Brown, son of the Rev. Dr. John Brown, of Whitburn, 
and grandson of the venerable compiler of the well-known Family 
Bible. The Apocrypha controversy had left Dr. Brown one of 
the minority in Scotland. But the question which now arose 
between them was one on which Mr. Haldane was enabled to 
appear with great effect, as he did not himself belong to the Es- 
tablished Church, and could not be suspected of interested mo- 
tives when he enforced the scriptural duty of paying, without a 
murmur, the tax by which the ministers of " the State Church" 
in Edinburgh were supported. 

This tax, commonly called the annuity-tax, had subsisted for 
200 years. It must be allowed to be an ill-arranged and ob 
noxious impost, especially for times when the community is 



ANNUITY-TAX. 529 

divided between an Established and Secession Church, and one 
which ought to be modified or changed. But those who first 
banded together to resist its payment, were, as Mr. Haldane 
states, " men immersed in the politics of the world, who cared 
little for Christianity." Others, " of whom better things might 
have been expected," were influenced to join in the agitation ; 
and in October, 1838, the Kev. Dr. John Brown stood forward at 
a Public Meeting, and read a written declaration, pledging him- 
self to suffer any penalty, even to the extent of bonds and impris- 
onment, rather than pay a tax which contributed to the support 
of the clergy of the Established Church. Such was the extent 
of the mischief, that the clergy were threatened with the total 
loss of their incomes, and warrants of distress were issued against 
no less than 1,960 recusants in Edinburgh, including Dr. John 
Brown himself. 

It was under these circumstances that Mr. Haldane published, 
in one of the Edinburgh newspapers, a short, but pointed, letter 
to Dr. Brown, not entering into any elaborate argument, but 
citing the first seven verses of the thirteenth chapter of Eomans, 
as conclusive evidence that a refusal of tribute was rebellion 
against Christ. 

This letter produced a great sensation in Edinburgh. No less 
than 14,000 copies were printed by the clergy and circulated 
from house to house. Dr. Brown replied in a manner that 
proved how little he had calculated on the difficulties of his posi- 
tion. The shaft was winged with truth, and yet Dr. Brown was 
naturally indignant at the charge of rebellion against Christ, and 
declared that he would make no further reply. But Mr. Hal- 
dane's rejoinder was producing too strong and general an im- 
pression to be safely left unanswered. Dr. Brown, therefore, 
preached two elaborate discourses on civil obedience and the 
duty of paying tribute, which were afterwards published, with 
copious notes, in a formidable octavo volume. Unable to meet 
the direct scriptural argument, he tried to evade its force by ex- 
plaining away the apostolic injunction, as if it were only local 
and temporary. The attempt to qualify the Old Testament 
Scriptures by the theory of a double code of morality, one for 
the Jews and another for Christians, has been attended with very 
evil consequences ; but a theory that would limit the New Tes- 
tament precepts to primitive times would be still more fatal. 
Mr. Haldane shows that Dr. Brown's argument would exculpate 

34 



530 AXXUITY-TAX. 

the duellist or the polygamist, who might, with equal plausibility, 
adopt the same line of apology. In eleven successive letters, in 
the newspapers, Mr. Haldane pursued the question, until the 
judgment of the public seemed so entirely to go along with his 
argument, that the agitation against the tax was abandoned, and 
Dr. Brown himself removed beyond the limits of the Koyalty of 
Edinburgh, within which alone the obnoxious tax was payable. 

The ability of Mr. Haldane's letters was noticed in the daily 
London papers, and, more than two years afterwards, they were 
thus alluded to with reference to Church-rates : — 

"When Dr. Brown publicly declared his resolution not to pay the annuity- 
tax, there were warrants against 1,961 persons for refusing. Immediately after 
the publication of the letters, the number was reduced to less than twenty,— 
namely, fifteen ; and such was the revolution caused in the public mind, that 
the tax was afterwards collected without difficulty." — " Morning Herald," Dec. 
3, 1840. 

Mr. Haldane's letters were published in a separate pamphlet, 
to which there is prefixed a very forcible argument against the 
modern system of resisting Government by means of agitation. 
It passed through several editions, and was reprinted in England. 

Dr. Brown had at the same time very needlessly assailed Mr. 
James Haldane in his notes, attempting to draw an argument in 
his own favor from the fact, that in a pamphlet published in 
1820, Mr. Haldane's brother had expressed his opinion that the 
alliance between the Church and the State was unscriptural, and 
fettered the progress of Christianity. But Dr. Brown was mis- 
taken. Mr. J. A. Haldane might be in error, but his views were 
intelligible and consistent. He adhered to the opinions alluded to 
by Dr. Brown, and yet he never ceased to repudiate the conduct 
of those who endeavored to forward a spiritual object by the use 
of carnal weapons. The opposition to the payment of the annu- 
ity-tax, of church-rates, of tribute of any kind, when lawfully 
imposed, he deemed to be rebellion, and a refusal to render unto 
Caesar the things that are Caesar's. The title of his pamphlet, 
"The Voluntary Question, political not religious," was intended 
to mark his opinion of the agitation which then prevailed, and he 
always gave it as his deliberate judgment, that those who strove 
by any other than spiritual weapons to assail the political estab- 
lishment of the Church, did not understand the nature of the 
kingdom of Christ. 

The grateful sense which was entertained of the vigorous and 



DR. CHALMERS. 531 

triumphant diversion effected by Mr. Haldane in favor of the 
Edinburgh clergy, had at one time suggested the idea of some 
public testimony of respect. But, on more mature consideration, 
it was felt that such a measure would neither be dignified on the 
part of the clergy, nor agreeable to the simplicity of Mr. Hal- 
dane's character. He could not, however, fail to be gratified 
with many of the private expressions of gratitude he received. 
The following is from the pen of Dr. Chalmers : — 

"My dear Sir, — I have ordered my publisher to send you the volumes of 
my lectures on the Romans as they come out. There have no copies come to 
myself yet, else I should have forwarded one of them to you directly. 

" The publication is as distinct in its object from yours, as if it had related 
to another portion of Scripture altogether — not critical and expository, but 
pulpit and practical compositions, — a desire for the publication of which had 
been long expressed by many in Glasgow, and which, now at the end of fifteen 
years, I set forth in a separate form, for the sake of individual purchasers who 
might desire to have them, as parts of that series which I am now publishing. 

" I am ashamed to mention this forthcoming work of mine along with yours, 
or, indeed, along with any work whatever of well-weighed preparation on that 
important part of Scripture, but mine is of entirely a different species, written 
chiefly on plain points, for Sabbath discourses, and sent out to the world with 
hardly any change on the first composition of them. 

" I cannot close this letter without congratulating both myself and the Chris- 
tian public on your timely and effective interposition in the question of the 
annuity-tax, and by which you have laid both the Church and the country under 
a deep and lasting obligation of a very high order. 

" I ever am, my dear Sir, 
" Yours, with the utmost respect and affection, 

" Thomas Chalmers." 

Many other acknowledgments of the value of his services were 
received by Mr. Haldane. One which he preserved with care came 
from the Divinity Students of the fourth year. The document is 
signed on behalf of the rest by the Eev. James Dodds, now of 
the Free Church, minister of Belhaven, and the Eev. Dr. James 
Hamilton, of Kegent's-square Church, London, whose writings 
are so well-known, and justly esteemed. It was afterwards ob- 
jected, that Mr. Haldane, in regard to civil obedience, seemed to 
go the full length of inculcating the old High Church doctrine of 
passive obedience and non-resistance. He denies this, and ob- 
serves : — 

" It is the old Scripture doctrine of obedience and non-resistance, but it is 
entirely different from the old High Church doctrine. That doctrine taught the 
indefeasible right of a particular family, whereas the Scriptures make poshes- 



532 PEINCIPLE OF CIVIL OBEDIENCE. 

sion the only title. To the Christian it matters not, as respects Ms duly of obe- 
dience, what family is on the throne, or what is the form or what the quality of 
the Government. A Christian has only to ask, in whom is the power actually 
vested? Show me the coin ! Whose image and superscription is this? Caesar 
was a usurper, but Csesar must be obeyed. It was God who gave him the 
power of the Empire : the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth 
it to whomsoever he will. (Dan. iv. 17-21.)" 

Shortly afterwards, Mr. Haldane made arrangements for the 
translation of the " Exposition" into German, so that an edition 
of two thousand copies was printed, and is now in circulation. 

In the summer of 1839, he was much gratified by a very 
friendly visit from the Eev. Edward Bickersteth, who told him 
that he had called chiefly to thank him for his works, and par- 
ticularly for his treatise on Inspiration, from which he had derived 
so much light, that it had induced him to call in one of his own 
works, for the purpose of making alterations in it on this subject, 
so as to take higher ground than he had previously judged it safe 
or prudent to occupy. 

At the close of 1839, he published a letter to the Eight Honora- 
ble Thomas B. Macaulay, then M.P. for Edinburgh. It was not 
on a political question, but one affecting morals and religion. It 
related to a speech in Parliament on the Ballot, in which Mr. 
Macaulay, in the opinion of his colleague, Lord John Kussell, was 
considered to have been betrayed into the error of " palliating 
dissimulation." From the moment when Mr. Haldane read this 
ingenious piece of sophistry, he saw its mischievous and de- 
moralizing tendencies. The orator was distinguished for his 
genius and eloquence, and he bore a name which, with the re- 
ligious portion of the community, was still encircled with the halo 
of hereditary fame. Mr. Macaulay was Member for Edinburgh, 
and as such, the representative of a great constituency, of whom 
Mr. Haldane was one. Mr. Haldane's letter produced a striking 
effect, and it was not only copied into the "Times," of the 25th 
December, but commented on with much approbation in a pow- 
erful leading article, in which the author is described as "a man 
of great talent and respectability." The subject is alike curious 
and important, but the limits of this Memoir will not allow of 
more than a few extracts. After exposing at some length the 
Right Hon. Gentleman's sophistry, he exclaims: — 

"In the midst of your elaborate attempt to depreciate the guilt of practising 
deception, you exclaim, 'God forbid that I should say. anything which should 



LETTER TO MR. MACAULAY. 533 

seem to extenuate the guilt of falsehood !' Did you not shudder when you 
thus took the name of God in vain, by an appeal to Heaven, at the very moment 
when you were calling in the authority, of men to back your vindication of 
what you consider protective falsehood ? Is it by such homage as this that the 
sanctity of truth will be maintained, while in the same breath you are sug- 
gesting occasions in which it may be trampled under foot? No, Sir, abandon 
such appeals to the Most High, and remember, that however you may entangle 
your own understanding in the web of sophistry, still falsehood never can be 
divested of its malignant character, and God will not be mocked." . . . 

He concludes as follows : — 

"It was lately said in Parliament, by a noble and learned Lord with whom 
you are well acquainted, that ' a regard for truth is the first foundation of all 
honor, comfort, and morals.' Far different is the lesson taught in your speech 
on the Ballot. Others have perceived that the interests of truth are placed in 
jeopardy by secret voting ; but so far as I know, you are the first who has boldly 
undertaken to set aside as not ' sound and well-considered' what you rightly 
admit to be ' the moral objection' to its adoption. May I not also add, that 
you have been the first to represent as venial the systematic practice of decep- 
tion, if necessary to protect a voter against the effects of the interference of 
another? Well might Lord J. Russell, in his speech which followed yours, ac- 
cuse you, as he did, of ' palliating dissimulation.' 

" The value of truth is incalculable ; but when you publicly teach that in 
forming political arrangements it may be subordinated to their advancement ; 
and when, in support of your argument, you sneeringly talk of ' zeal for truth,' 
your conduct exposes you to no ordinary censure. After such avowals on your 
part, can you complain if your own assertions shall be regarded with distrust, 
and your political pledges with suspicion? Others, through the force of temp- 
tation, may falsify regarding their votes, while they suffer under a strong sense 
of their degradation, and feel deep contrition on account of their dishonorable 
conduct. But with you no blush of shame can testify the internal struggle, on 
the part of high principle, to assert its empire over the man. The principles you 
have adopted and publicly proclaimed are calculated to silence the voice of con- 
science, to prevent the perception of evil, and to steel the mind against the 
visitjjngs of compunctious feeling. Better will it be, far better, if professing 
your repentance as loudly as your shame has been avowed, you shall retreat 
without delay from the dishonorable ground you have chosen to occupy, and 
do all in your power to make amends for the mischief you have perpetrated in 
promulgating opinions calculated to corrupt the principles of your countrymen, 
and fraught with the most disastrous consequences to the interests of morality 
and virtue. 

" Till then, Sir, you cannot count upon the support of those to whom princi- 
ple is dearer than partisanship, and truth more precious than victory. The solid 
greatness and lasting prosperity of empires must depend, under the blessing of 
God, on the tone of public morals ; and what must be thought of the preten- 
sions of a statesman who in politics would import into Scotland the deceitful 



584 LETTER TO MR. MACAULAY. 

habits of Hindoo idolaters as a substitute for that stern integrity and unbending 
virtue which has raised this country so high in the scale of nations 

" I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 

"Robert Haldane. 
"Randolph-crescent, Edinburgh, Dec. 16, 1839." 

Mr. Macaulay was soon afterwards called to a seat in the Cab- 
inet, and as such required to defend and explain his conduct be- 
fore his electors. It was impossible to leave Mr. Haldane's letter 
unanswered, but it had made too deep and general an impression 
on the religious portion of his constituency to render silence 
politic or explanation easy. His speech proved very unsatisfac- 
tory. Whilst denying that he intended to advocate falsehood, he 
still substantially repeated his former arguments, which were all 
based on the hollowness of worldly morality, and on the license 
that is conceded with regard to truth, not only in the world of 
fashion, but to politicians and men of letters. 

The following sentences from a private letter, dated January 
23, 1840, may show the spirit and motives which influenced Mr. 
Haldane on this occasion : — 

"In reading again Mr. Macaulay's apology, it appears that there is now pre- 
sented a very remarkable opportunity of glorifying God in the vindication of 
the truth, and of doing good to others, for you will see by their cheers how 
little the moral import of the question weighs with those who heard him. He 
adheres in effect to his former declarations. The authority of God he puts out 
of the question, balancing one sin against another, resting all on the opinion 
and practice of men with regard to character, and the propriety of extending 
to the poor the indulgence which he affirms is conceded to gentlemen. He 
thus lays a strong temptation in the way of the poor to think lightly of false- 
hood, and to practise it on all occasions when it seems to be advantageous." 

In another letter, Mr. Haldane mentions that he is informed, on 
the best authority, that the effect of the discussion has been more 
powerful than he had imagined, and that all idea of employing 
him as an advocate in Parliament, in the Church question, was 
abandoned. Nor was this a temporary result ; for Mr. Macau- 
lay's lax principles were not forgotten, when, at the election in 
1846, the citizens of Edinburgh substituted Mr. Cowan as their 
representative, thus showing that they preferred high moral prin- 
ciple, when associated with capacity for business, to all the genius 
of the poet, the splendor of the historian, and the eloquence of 
the orator. 

The discussion with Mr. Macaulay was but an episode in the 



IMPUTATION OF ORIGINAL SIN. 535 

progress of his greater works. But scarcely had he concluded 
his letters to that celebrated essayist, historian, and orator, when 
he was called on to defend the doctrines of the " Exposition of 
the Eomans" from an attack made in a friendly quarter. After 
the lamented death of Dr. Thomson, the Edinburgh ; ' Christian 
Instructor" was under the editorial management of the Rev. Dr. 
Burns, of Paisley, and between that excellent clergyman and Mr. 
Haldane there subsisted the most entire coincidence of sentiment 
on most subjects. But in the April number of the " Instructor" 
of 1840, there appeared an elaborate review, which, in the midst 
of high eulogiums on Mr. Haldane's talents, munificence, and 
usefulness, disclosed opinions alike at variance with the doc- 
trines of the author and with the standards of the Church of 
Scotland. These opinions related to original sin, the extent of 
the atonement, and the sovereignty of God. It was not written 
by Dr. Burns, who had not even read it, and whose private let- 
ters, as well as his public testimonies, show how highly he appre- 
ciated the value and soundness of Mr. Haldane's theology. It is 
unnecessary to give a detail of the letter to the " Christian In- 
structor," valuable though it be, and the rather because its most 
important points are interwoven with the last edition which he 
published. A few extracts may suffice. 

Mr. Haldane always considered the term " righteousness" as 
the " key-note" of the Epistle to the Romans, just as he regarded 
the term "perfection," or the finishing, to be the key-note of the 
Epistle to the Hebrews. In various parts of Scripture, the right- 
eousness of God signifies either holy rectitude of character, which 
is the attribute of Grod, or that distributive justice by which he 
upholds his holy laws. 

" But," he says, " when it refers to man's salvation, and is not merely a per- 
sonal attribute (as in Rom. iii. 21), it signifies the righteousness which God has 
appointed and provided for the salvation of sinners. I was led," he adds, " the 
more fully to dwell on it, because in its true import it furnishes, as I have shown, 
a complete proof of the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who is ' Jehovah 
our Righteousness' was placed, not as Adam was, or as the angels in the begin- 
ning were, under the law, to obey only its precepts, but under it, as a broken 
law, to fulfil at the same time both its precepts and its penalty, — a work which 
no mere creature, nor all the creatures in the universe together, could have ac- 
complished. Could the whole of them, with regard to its precept, have brought 
in everlasting righteousness ? Could all of them, with regard to its penalty, have 
said, 'It is finished?'" 

With respect to the imputation of Adam's sin to every one of 



536 MR. HALDANE'S LAST WORK. 

his descendants, as the righteousness of Christ is imputed to all 
believers, the reviewer had termed Mr. Haldane's doctrine "a 
startling proposition." His reply is characteristic : — 

" Whether it be a startling proposition or not matters little to the humble 
student of Scripture, who sits at the feet of Jesus, to be taught of Him, and to 
receive the things that pertain to the kingdom of God as a little child." 

Mr. Haldane was himself of opinion that this might be one of 
the most useful of his publications, " for," he adds in a letter, 
" at present there is a great departure from sound scriptural doc- 
trine." He was amused with the description of a writer in a High 
Church Eeview, who said that his works might lead to the suppo- 
sition that the author was one of the old Westminster Assembly 
of Divines, who had just risen from the council table. There 
was some truth in the picture, for he stood upon the ancient 
foundations, rejected modern novelties, and delighted in the an- 
cient scriptural writings of the Eeformers and the Puritans. 

This was the last of Mr. Haldane's controversial publications. 
It had been suggested that the ancient doctrine with reference to 
the sovereignty of 'God, as taught by the Eeformers, was regarded 
with prejudice by many. He writes : — 

" I have read it (the pamphlet) over again, and am now of opinion that it is 
not right in such a matter to give way to prejudices, but openly and fully to 
declare and circulate, so far as possible, sound doctrine, which is the only way 
through which, by the blessing of God, however much it may be opposed, it 
will ultimately prevail." 

Shortly afterwards he began to prepare for a complete revision 
of his " Exposition," with a view to final corrections. It is alluded 
to in the following letter :— 

" I hope Mrs. Haldane and you and any of your children will, if possible, 
come and see us here in the course of the summer. Do consider this, and let 
me have the pleasure of knowing that I may with some certainty expect it. In 
a few days, — as soon as I can get a multiplicity of country matters which are on 
hand settled, — I intend to begin to prepare for a new edition of the three vol- 
umes of the " Exposition," that they may be ready for printing when, if spared, 
we return to Edinburgh in winter. Although I do not need this additional 
motive for being desirous to see you here, yet were you here for a little, espe- 
cially if no other company were with us at the time, it would be a very great ad- 
vantage, so that we might consult as to any final corrections that might be 
necessary before their going to press, and to fix on the proper form of print- 
ing, &c." 

He was now in his seventy -seventh year, and this was the com- 



MR. haldane's last work. 537 

mencement of the last of his many labors, excepting only two 
little tracts, — the one on the " Sanctiflcation of the Lord's-day," 
and the other on " Eailway Sabbath-breaking," which, at the re- 
quest of the friends of the Sabbath, he prepared and printed whilst 
his greater work was in preparation. 

A few years before, in announcing his change of residence in 
Edinburgh from the house which he had occupied between thirty 
and forty years, he begins by dating from his new abode in Ean- 
dolph-crescent, No. 6, June 8, 1836, and proceeds : " You will 
observe we have changed our quarters. You will have no more 
occasion to direct to 10, Duke-street. All things earthly come to 
an end." He, too, was drawing near the termination of his long 
and arduous career. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

[1840—1842.] 

On visiting Auchingray, in August, 1840, about two months 
after the date of the letter which closes the last chapter, it appear- 
ed that Mr. Haldane had made some progress in the revision of 
his " Exposition." On a survey of the whole, he expressed him- 
self now satisfied as to the meaning of all the difficult passages, 
over which he had long and anxiously pondered, excepting, per- 
haps, Eom. i. 4, where he thought the expression, " with power," 
admitted of more than one interpretation. He still felt persuaded 
that there must be a definite meaning, of which being shortly 
afterwards satisfied, he left it as it stands in his last edition. It 
was interesting to observe the pains which he took in order to 
arrive at a satisfactory conclusion on the minutest point, a circum- 
stance the more remarkable on account of the decision he evinced 
when his judgment was fully and finally made up. 

His health was obviously declining, and yet the vigor of his 
mind was not at all abated, nor did his sight, his hearing, or the 
elasticity of his spirits, evince any symptom of the common in- 
firmities of old age. The routine of his occupations went on as 
in former years, except that he was no longer allowed to preach 
on the Lord's-day. In the morning, when the family assembled 
he read a chapter and prayed. When his brother was with him, 
as on this occasion, the one usually prayed in the morning and 
the other in the evening. At breakfast he was cheerful and full 
of animation. No longer able to encounter the same amount of 
fatigue as formerly, the time which he spent in his own room was 
now prolonged till three o'clock, or even later. Much of that in- 
terval was devoted to conversation on the great doctrines of the 
Gospel, more especially with reference to the final revision of his 
" Commentary." He never himself appeared at luncheon or re- 



VISIT TO AUCHINGRAY. 539 

quired any refreshment between breakfast and dinner. About 
three o'clock he generally took a walk, when he talked without 
reserve on the various topics which arose. But at this time, and 
in the previous year, it seemed as if he felt that time was passing 
away, and his communications were full of more than their wonted 
interest, touching as they did on the workings of his own mind, 
the history of his religious experience, and the eventful career 
both of himself and his brother. This was the more remarkable 
considering how little of egotism and how much of reserve were 
included in the elements of his character. At dinner he was 
affable, and even playful. At all times rather abstemious, he sel- 
dom took more than one, or at most, two glasses of wine, and 
never sat long at table. Before tea he would very generally walk 
out again, and enliven his conversation by anecdotes of past times, 
and of the various characters with whom, from his boyhood, he 
had come into contact. At an earlier period, when in vigorous 
health, and even so late as 1839, he would often take long walks 
with his grandchildren and his younger nephews and nieces, or en- 
courage them in their games by his playfulness and good-humor. 
He was at all times fond of children, and with them would still 
exhibit his early love of practical jokes. At eight o'clock the 
tea-table was spread in the drawing-room, and after this very 
social repast the servants assembled for evening prayers. When 
this solemn but simple service was over, Mr. Haldane, at the 
period to which this sketch refers, would retire into his own room, 
in order that his conversation on the subjects which chiefly oc- 
cupied his thoughts might not be interrupted by desultory talk. 
These conversations, often prolonged beyond midnight, were in- 
tensely interesting, and the rather because it was impossible not 
to feel that they were fast drawing to an end. They were, at the 
last, concluded by a prayer, simple, affectionate, and earnest, 
breathing the spirit of adoption, and calling down the Divine 
blessing upon his relative, for whom he prayed that the Lord 
might give him to fight the good fight of faith and enable him to 
endure to the end. Those who regarded Mr. Haldane merely as 
a controversialist little knew the depth of his benevolence, his 
comprehensive charity, and, above all, the settled peace and joy 
which he derived from the personal and unclouded appropriation 
of those doctrines of which he was so earnest and powerful a 
champion. 

The summer of 1840 passed away, and amidst the interruptions 



540 SUNDAY AT AUCHINGKAY. 

that occurred connected with the affairs of his grandsons' and his 
own estate, he still found the corrections and additions to his 
" Commentary" incomplete. He therefore determined to remain 
at Auchingray during the winter, where^ in solitary retirement, 
he persevered undisturbed in his work. His correspondence 
announces its progress, and how he had adopted the advice to 
work up in the " Exposition" the substance of the valuable doc- 
trinal arguments contained in the recent letter to the " Christian 
Instructor." In 1841 it was completed, and before leaving the 
country, as if feeling that he was not again to return, he was much 
employed in examining old letters and papers, many of which he 
committed to the flames. 

During the years when he was accustomed on the Lord's-day to 
preach at Auchingray, for the convenience of the people he fol- 
lowed the Scottish practice, prevalent in the country, of running 
two services into one. The whole lasted from twelve o'clock to 
three, and the two sermons were only divided by the interval 
of a psalm, a prayer, and a second psalm. This was necessarily 
fatiguing, but the avidity with which the country people flocked 
to hear, and the tokens of their blessed effects, rendered him un- 
willing to leave them off. Every Saturday evening, at family 
worship, he had been wont to pray that many might come to hear, 
and that a blessing might attend the preaching of the Word. 
Seldom, probably, have such sermons been preached in such a 
place, but they were appreciated, and many actually travelled 
twenty miles or more for the purpose of attending. For most 
country congregations in England they would have been too doc- 
trinal and elaborate. They cost much preparation, and even the 
scanty notes which remain would in themselves be sufficient to 
indicate that they were worthy of the author of the " Exposition 
of the Komans." It was a beautiful sight at Auchingray on a 
Sunday to see the country people flocking to the place where he 
preached, across the hills in the direction of Shotts, or through 
the moorland and plantations towards Slamannan, most of them 
on foot, but some in their carts or on horseback, the women with 
red cloaks, and the men with blue bonnets. There was a gravity 
and a respectability in their appearance that called back the recol- 
lection of the old Covenanters of the west of Scotland, of whom 
they were, in fact, the descendants. Kelics of the times of " the 
Bloody Clavers" might still be seen in their houses, such as the 
gun which an ancestor had carried to Bothwell Bridge, or some 



DESIRE FOR UNION. 541 

other treasured token of their attachment to the cause which per- 
secution had both endeared and consecrated. 

There was no church near the House of Auchingray. The 
post-town of Airdrie was more than six miles distant ; the parish 
church of Slamannan was not much nearer ; nor the Kirk of Shotts, 
so famed for the extraordinary revival following the remarkable 
sermon of the celebrated Mr. Livingston, nearly 200 years ago. 
Several of the neighboring ministers were far from regarding 
these services as an intrusion, but an anecdote is told of a very 
moderate minister, some miles off, who asked one of his parishion- 
ers, in a complaining tone, what it was that Mr. Haldane preached, 
that took away so many of the people to hear him. With greater 
frankness and honesty than regard for his minister's feelings, the 
worthy cottager sturdily replied, " 'Deed, Sir, I'm thinking its just 
the contrary to your preaching." Mr. Haldane's object was not 
to attempt the formation of a separate Church, but only to preach 
the Gospel to those who would not otherwise hear it. The Lord's 
Supper was, therefore, not administered; and, with respect to 
baptism, at the close of one of his most striking sermons, he ad- 
dressed all present with great solemnity, telling them that the 
grand question was not whether they had been baptized in infancy 
or maturity, but whether they had been baptized with the Holy 
Spirit. He also steadily refused the applications made to him to 
aid the Baptist Bible Society in America, with a view to more 
correct translations of the disputed words, alleging, in a letter, 
dated 25th September, 1840, that he altogether disapproved of any 
external ordinance being made a bond of union instead of faith in 
Christ and sound doctrine. He stated, that he regarded the term 
Baptist, as prefixed to the Society's name, to be quite inappro- 
priate. His correspondence, in 1840, with his old friend, the Kev. 
Mr. Maclay, of New York, is, on this subject, remarkable; and 
more particularly with reference to doctrinal errors, which were 
at that time sanctioned by some leading Baptists. 

At the end of December, 1841, Mr. Haldane left Auchingray, 
and, for the last time, arrived in Edinburgh. The printing of his 
"Exposition" was commenced, but, during its progress through 
the press, his assistance was wanted in the great battle then going 
on with reference to the desecration of the Lord's-day by the rail- 
way companies. To his third volume was added an argument 
with reference to the sanctification of the Lord's-day, consisting 
of sixty-two pages, which he also published separately. It takes 



542 PUBLISHES HIS EXPOSITION. 

up the strong scriptural ground which, had been, ten years before, 
occupied by his brother, in an able treatise on the same subject; 
showing that it was not a Jewish statute, but an ordinance of God 
from the beginning, necessary for man in Paradise, and still more 
for man doomed to eat his bread in the sweat of his brow. He 
also wrote a separate tract with reference to the Glasgow Railway , 
with all his accustomed force and acuteness. 

The " Exposition" was printed in June, with his last corrections, 
and he left it as an injunction that no alterations might be per- 
mitted. He also added a separate treatise, of great importance, 
on the " Testimony of the Word of God, with regard to the State 
of the Heathen destitute of the Gospel." The conclusion contains 
a summary of the whole Epistle. His closing words are as fol- 
lows : — 

" The doctrines unfolded in this epistle reveal to us the mighty plan of re- 
demption, by which our powerful spiritual enemies are overcome and all the 
strong and deeply-rooted evils lodged within our hearts shall finally be subdued. 
The whole lead believers to exclaim : — ' The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice ; 
let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.' " 

His last labor was a fit termination to the long, active, and 
arduous career of Robert Haldane. His health had been declining 
for some time, and, in his seventy-ninth year he could not well 
expect a revival. He was therefore compelled to abandon the 
idea of some other Expositions, which he had long contemplated, 
and for which he had collected much material. Although unable 
to attend the general meeting of the Edinburgh Bible Society, he 
had great satisfaction in the interviews he enjoyed with the Rev. 
Sydney Th el wall, who came down as a deputation from the Trini- 
tarian, and gave an interesting account of the attempts in progress 
to purify the foreign translations of the Bible in Portugal and 
other Continental countries.* 

* Mr. Haldane was also partial to the circulation of the Scriptures in portions, or 
in the form of tracts. In this way he had, on the Continent, circulated the Gospel 
by St, John and other extracts complete in themselves, including the book of Gene- 
sis and the first twenty chapters of Exodus. In order' to induce the Trinitarian to 
adopt this plan in Portugal, he gave to Mr. Thelwall a special donation of 100/. for 
the distribution of the historical portion of the Old Testament just mentioned, being 
one which he deemed very important and had found very acceptable. At that time, 
however, objections were taken by the Trinitarian Committee to such extracts, and 
Mr. Haldane reclaimed his donation, which was appropriated to the diffusion of the 
Scriptures in France. Since that period it appears that Mr. Haldane's plan has been 
adopted in Ireland, and selected portions of the Bible widely circulated by the same 
Society in the Irish language, in the form of tracts. 



HIS LAST ILLNESS. 543 

The Report of the Edinburgh Society, in 1842, so far as it re- 
lated to the Apocrypha question and the union with Socinians or 
Neologians, was written by Mr. James Haldane ; so that, although 
the one brother was disabled, the other occupied his post. On 
the 14th July, Mr. J. A. Haldane writes : — 

" This is my birth-day, on which I enter my seventy-fifth year. I have much 
cause of gratitude for the health I enjoy, as well as for many other blessings. 
But your uncle has been very feeble for some time. I do not know whether 
he will go to Auchingray. Your aunt seems to think that he would be the bet- 
ter for the country air. He has been very little out of the house since he came 
to Edinburgh." 

In August he was evidently sinking in bodily strength, although 
the clear light of his masculine intellect was as unclouded, and his 
mental energies as active, as ever. He discussed matters of busi- 
ness relating to his own affairs and his family with all his usual 
shrewdness and perspicuity, and kindled into animation in speak- 
ing of the integrity of the Bible, its plenary inspiration, or the 
importance of maintaining the purity of its doctrines. On Satur- 
day evening, the 27th of August, he was very unwell, and the 
doctor was sent for. Shortly afterwards, in a private interview 
with his physician, it was ascertained that Mr. Haldane had asked 
him to say plainly what he thought of his prospects of recovery. 
The doctor had replied, " Mr. Haldane, you are a man of firm 
mind and not afraid of death. I have, therefore, no fear of alarm- 
ing you when I say that it looks like a last illness." Next day, 
after hearing Dr. Candlish preach at St. George's Church in the 
morning, I went to see him, and found him in bed, with his old 
Bible beside him, the same which he had used at Geneva, and 
which Dr. Malan described as then literally worn out by frequent 
reference. He had told no one of the doctor's announcement, and 
he did not notice it now ; but his manner was grave and his coun- 
tenance evinced the intensity of his self-searching meditations. 
He began at once, — "I have been thinking of our Lord's words 
to his disciples, in his last discourse, John xiv. 21-23," which he 
repeated: " 'He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, 
he it is that loveth me,' &c, and the parallel passage, Eev. hi. 20;" 
which he also repeated. "Now," he said, "I have been asking 
myself, what must my answer be, if tried by this test ? Have I 
kept his commandments, — have I kept his sayings?" And, with 
emphasis and an earnest expression, he exclaimed, as his dark 
penetrating eye was lighted up with animation, " I bless the Lord 



544 HIS LAST ILLNESS. 

that, through his grace, I can say, Yes ; that I have his command- 
ments, and have kept them." He then explained that command- 
ment is to believe in Jesus Christ, and the Lord had been pleased 
to give him grace to believe. "I do believe," he said, "and I do 
love Him ; and, in spite of much sin and weakness and great un- 
worthiness, it has been my endeavor ; ever since I knew the Lord 
and received his sayings, to serve Him in simplicity and with 
godly sincerity." " No doubt," he added, "there have been much 
alloy and many errors, for I have no righteousness of my own. 
There is no merit in any of my works, but my trust has been, 
and is, in the righteousness of Christ. I therefore can say, the 
Lord being my helper, that I have his commandments, and that 
I have kept them." 

He then spoke of his course as a Christian generally, and of the 
remarkable unity of thought and action which had always sub- 
sisted between himself and his brother, both in doctrine and in 
practice. On the contrary, he said that after all "it was his con- 
viction that the Spirit was given as the Lord saw good to all 
Churches — that it was the preaching of sound doctrine which the 
Lord blessed, and not particular systems. Great good," he said, 
"was done by lay preaching, but we were permitted for a time to 
attach too much importance to some things connected with Church 
order ; and whether it was that we were not worthy, or whatever 
was the cause, our efforts to restore apostolic Churches and prim- 
itive Christianity were unsuccessful." "The truth," he added, 
"seems to be, that the Church is in the wilderness, and until the 
Lord chooses in his own good time to bring her out of it, I be- 
lieve the attempt will be vain." He, therefore, no longer laid 
much stress as formerly on Church order. He said, that although 
his theoretic views were not changed, and he had detected no flaw 
in his principles, yet he could not forget that the ministers of the 
Church of Scotland — such as Dr. Gordon, Dr. Thomson, Dr. Chal- 
mers, and the rest, had been his fellow-laborers in the cause of 
the Bible and the promulgation of the doctrines of the Gospel, 
much more than some who might seem from their Voluntary 
principles to approach nearer to him in sentiment with regard to 
Church polity. On the Bible Society question, on plenary inspi- 
ration, on the Sabbath question, and in regard to the doctrines 
exhibited in his "Exposition," he had found far greater concur- 
rence of sentiment between himself and the ministers of the 
Church of Scotland, and such men as Dr. M'Crie, Professor Pax- 



HIS LAST ILLNESS. 545 

ton, &c, than with Voluntaries, who had, as he thought, been too 
much ensnared by politics. In regard to his " Exposition," he felt 
that it had been welcomed by some of the best men, both in Scot- 
land and England ; and for the success that had accompanied it 
he desired to give all the glory to God. He then conversed about 
other matters, which have been touched on in these " Memoirs," 
relating to the period when the disruption took place in the Tab- 
ernacle connection. He considered that that had been a time 
when his motives had been called in question by some who should 
have known better, and said, that although he had no doubt there 
was much of worldly excitement unconsciously mingled with the 
whole of the Congregational system in its first beginnings, and 
with his own zeal when chapels were built so rapidly, and so much 
bustle prevailed, yet he could now, at the close of the day, and 
in the calm retrospect of his busy career, appeal to the Great 
Searcher of hearts as a witness to the purity of his motives, and 
his simple desire to promote the Kingdom of Christ. 

Although Dr. Davidson had truly expressed the opinion that 
it was a last illness, yet it was chiefly indicated by a failure of 
strength, and tendency to exhaustion. It was the wearing out 
of the over-labored framework of his vigorous and indomitable 
spirit. During the course of the week, he conversed for many 
hours almost every day, on matters partly connected with his 
grandchildren, but chiefly with reference to the great spiritual 
objects in which he was interested. There were very few of his 
friends admitted to see him, and, besides his brother, the only 
exception that occurred during the visits alluded to, was in favor 
of Mr. George Ross, for whom he entertained a particular esteem 
and regard, not only as a family connection, but as one who had 
sacrificed much for Christ, and always firmly and consistently 
stood forward as a supporter of the great truths of the Gospel. 

These daily visits were always made by appointment at a par- 
ticular hour, soon after he got up, which was then not till about 
eleven or twelve o'clock, or sometimes later. He occupied the 
drawing-room adjoining which he slept, and he generally sat or 
reclined on a sofa fronting the fire-place. There was no depres- 
sion in his spirits. On the contrary, there was a good deal of 
vivacity in conversation, which was, even on the last of these 
much-remembered days, enlivened by cheerful and amusing an- 
ecdotes. 

Bat most frequently he was solemn and serious. Again and 

35 



546 VISIT OF EEV. JAMES O'HABA. 

again, but particularly during the last visit, lie urged the impor- 
tance of the ninth chapter of Romans, and of the view it gives 
of the sovereignty of God. He said he could not express the 
comfort which he had derived from it at all times, and especially 
in a recent season of trial. "We were thus taught to see God in 
everything, and to trace everything to God — to see his Almighty 
hand in our mistakes, as well as our successes : in our adversity, 
as well as prosperity. It was our wisdom, therefore, to endeavor 
to commit ourselves and our concerns to His supreme guidance, 
to seek to do His will, and to be conformed to it. He earnestly 
recommended the study of his exposition of that chapter, as ex- 
hibiting the only solid ground on which right views of the Gospel 
can rest, and as calculated to afford the greatest practical comfort 
to all, who, as little children, will cast themselves in conscious 
helplessness on the almighty sovereign power of God. In speak- 
ing of a special providence, he said he rather objected to the term 
special, as it seemed to overlook the fact that everything is ordered 
of God, great as well as small. 

On another day he spoke of several of his friends at Geneva 
and at Montauban, and desired a sum of money to be sent to both 
places for the promotion of the Gospel, and as a token of his affec- 
tion. He also mentioned Dr. G-ordon, of Edinburgh, with much 
regard, and spoke with pleasure of that eminent clergyman's hav- 
ing told him that he had derived light from the exposition of the 
6th chapter of the Romans, on which Mr. Haldane said he had 
labored much, and conceived that by the blessing of God he had 
been enabled to present the truth in some new and important 
aspects. 

In the same month, the Rev. James O'Hara, of Coleraine, hap- 
pened to be in Edinburgh. As a relative in whom Mr. Haldane 
took a kind interest, he was permitted to enjoy an interview, of 
which Mr. O'Hara gives the following account : — 

" But I believe I was the last person, not of his own immediate family, who 
had the privilege of spending an evening with your uncle ; it was towards the 
end of September, 1842; and well do I recollect writing to Mrs. O'Hara, to 
whom I was then just going to be married, to mention what a treat I had the 
evening before. He spoke for more than an hour, chiefly on the doctrine of 
regeneration by the Word as totally distinct from the office of baptism, and I 
was much struck with the clearness and arrangement with which he handled the 
subject, more as if he was reading from something he had studied, and committed 
to paper, than giving expression to passing thoughts. I had often read of the 
bright views of Christians when on the eve of their departure, but never before 



HIS DEATH-BED. 547 

had seen an instance such as was the case with him ; and I left the house with 
reverence in my mind, and Balaam's prayer on my lips, as he evidently had but 
few days to pass on earth. It was a scene which has often recurred to me, and 
one which I never could forget." 

Mr. Haldane lived for more than two months after this period, 
but although the elasticity of his mind never gave way, his bodily 
frame seemed gradually to sink, and had it not been for the 
strength of his constitution, he could not have survived so long. 
As he became feebler, he more and more preferred being alone, 
and seldom conversed even with his own family. In a letter, 
dated Friday, the 25th of November, his brother writes : — 

" Your uncle is very ill, and on Monday night he appeared to be gone; but 
he has rallied a little. Robert saw him to-day, and mentioned what you said 
about the money for Geneva and Montauban, and all was arranged. He in- 
quired as to the day of the month, as he has repeatedly done in reference to 
his last settlement. If he lives till Wednesday, it will hold, as the sixty days 
from its execution will then have expired (necessary, by Scotch law, for one 
who does not go to kirk or market, in the interval). The doctors say there is 
no hope of his rallying much. Dr. Davidson said, it was evidently a breaking- 
up, and this was the expression used to me by Dr. Abercrombie." 

On Saturday, the 26th, he sent for his nephew, Eobert, and 
conversed with him for an hour, settled all his worldly affairs, and 
gave directions as to his funeral. A letter of the same date gives 
some brief details of this interview, and proceeds : — 

" He sent his kind love to you, and thanks for all your kind attention to him, 
and interest in all his matters. He exhorted you to hold fast the faith, and 
sent you his blessing." 

In another letter, dated the Monday following, his brother again 
writes : — 

" The message this morning is, that your uncle has had a very bad night. 
Elizabeth has been there, and brings word that he is more uneasy. Robert 
will see him, and then we shall hear more particulars. I am not sure that I 
mentioned before, that he converses more freely with yourself and Robert than 
with any one besides. He suffers much from weakness, but his mind is per- 
fectly sound. He spoke to Robert for a good while on Saturday evening. 
Whilst he was speaking Robert began to tell him something, but he wished 
not to be interrupted. Yesterday, when Robert saw him again, he inquired, with 
perfect self-recollection, ' What was it you were going to say on Saturday V " 

An account of the interview above alluded to, so far as it did 
not relate to private matters, was printed after Mr. Haldane's 
death : — 



548 HIS DEATH-BED. 

" It was now obvious to those around him that the last scene was fast ap- 
proaching. His medical attendants had given it as their opinion that he could not 
survive many days. On feeling that the hand of death was upon him, he sent 
for me to come to him, as he wished particularly to see me ; and he fixed an 
hour when he was not likely to be interrupted by the visits of his physician. 
So anxious was he for this interview, that he was the first to hear me ring the 
bell, and he desired his head to be raised on his pillow, in order that he might 
converse the more easily. He then expressed a wish that all should leave the 
room ; and he told me to sit as near him as I could. I shall never, so long as 
I live, forget our conversation, which lasted for above an hour. Although I 
had known him intimately from my infancy, I was never so much struck as on 
this occasion with the masculine vigor and indomitable firmness of his character. 
He told me that the event he had long expected was now at hand, and that 
in a few hours he would probably be summoned before the tribunal of God, the 
Judge of all. He was as composed as I ever recollect him, and did not display 
the slightest emotion. He told me that he viewed the approach of the last ene- 
my without dismay, — that he died in the faith, possessing the peace of God, and 
in the full assurance of understanding. He added, ' You cannot conceive the 
comfort I possess, and I trust that, when placed in the same situation, you will 
enjoy the like blessed hope.' He exclaimed, ' I have fought a good fight,' &c. ; 
and in the most deliberate manner repeated the whole passage, laying particular 
emphasis on the words, ' Not for me only, but for all who love his appearing.' 
He remarked, that, however praiseworthy in the eyes of the world anything he 
had done might appear, he in no way rested on it as a ground of acceptance in 
the sight of God; that, on the contrary, he renounced his good works as much 
as his bad ones, and desired only to be wrapt in the robe of his Redemer's 
righteousness. He added, that he reposed securely on the atonement of his 
Saviour, and that the words which he uttered on the cross, 'It is finished,' gave 
him solid peace and comfort. He told me that he died in peace with all man- 
kind, and he sent affectionate messages to those connected with him. In par- 
ticular, he expressed the great comfort and benefit he had derived from the 
ministry of his brother, and felt thankful that they had gone on together hand 
in hand for so many years in all their labors, and had differed in nothing. He 
declared that he firmly adhered to all the blessed doctrines which he had at- 
tempted to illustrate in his writings, more particularly in the last edition of 
his Exposition of the Romans. He survived sixteen days longer, during which 
time I saw him frequently, and so long as he was able to articulate, he expressed 
the same firm confidence in the finished work of his Redeemer." 

In another long conversation, held on Sunday evening, the 4th 
of December, with her who had been for nearly fifty-seven 
years his faithful partner, he again went over the ground of his 
hope, which he declared to be fully able to support him. He 
spoke of the atonement as being a reconciliation, which, in the 
nature of things, could only be made for the sheep of Christ ; 
and he added, that how much soever a contrary view might, at 
first, tend to remove difficulties, it was only an apparent and not 



HIS DEATH. 549 

a real removal, for the same difficulties, although displaced, re- 
mained in full force, and never could be solved to one who be- 
lieved in election, except by referring all to the sovereign will of 
God, who, as the Judge of all the earth, must do right. He once 
more repeated, that he had derived much light on this subject as 
well as on others, from his brother's preaching and writings, which 
he had always found full of edification, and from which he had 
derived more of solid edification than from any other. On the 
subject of the atonement, he was understood to refer particularly 
to a long conversation they had had together at Auchingray in 
1841. He seemed to have pleasure in dwelling on the harmony 
and oneness of mind and purpose which had subsisted between 
him and his brother, and alluded to a saying of his friend, Mr. 
Murray, of George-square, who, on seeing them together, had, 
on one occasion, exclaimed, " There they are ! the two brothers, 
they have always dwelt together in unity." He spoke also of the 
principal events of his own life, both before and since he knew 
the Lord. He felt that he had been kept in the grasp of Almighty 
love, or he must have perished. He touched on the different 
controversies in which he had been engaged, and said it would 
yet appear that the Bible Society discussion, involving, as it did, 
the integrity of the canon and the plenary inspiration of Scrip- 
ture, was one of the most important that had occurred since the 
days of the apostles. It was then that he expressed the wish that 
an account of it should at some time be published, although it 
might possibly not be expedient to do so for a few years. He 
again sent messages of love to his relations, and of kind remem- 
brance to friends. 

After this he seemed to prefer being entirely alone, and scarcely 
spoke to any one. On the night of the 11th of December, he 
addressed some kind, pointed exhortations to his attendant, as to 
the importance of storing her memory with Scripture, and he was 
also overheard speaking to himself, as if in prayer. The last 
words he was heard to utter were several times repeated at inter- 
vals : — "Forever with the Lord" — -"forever" — "forever." It 
seemed as if he felt that the prayer he had so often uttered in his 
family worship were about to be fulfilled. " One thing have I 
desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after, that I may dwell 
in the house of the Lord forever." 

On Monday, the 12th of December, he peacefully departed. 
He was buried within one of the aisles of the Old Cathedral at 



550 HIS APPEAEA>"CE. 

Glasgow, not far from the spot where, forty-four years before, he 
stood beside his friend. Mr. Rowland Hill, whilst the latter 
preached to so many thousands of the citizens of Glasgow. 

There were many public testimonials to the estimation in which 
he was held, and his death was noticed in the prayers and in the 
sermons of Dr. Gordon. Dr. Candlish. and most of those who are 
now the Free Church, ministers in Edinburgh. The ''Witness' 1 
contained the first sketch of his character, from which one or two 
sentences may be extracted, more especially as corning from a 
journal of distinguished ability, then devoted to that portion of 
the Presbyterian Establishment of Scotland which was so speedily 
to become known as the founders of the Free Church : — 

B On Monday morning, this venerable gentleman died, in the seventy-ninth 
vear of his age. after an illness of some duration, under which his bodily frame 
gradually sunk, and his latter end was peace. Mr. Haldane vr?^ one of those 
eminent men who leave the impress of their character on the age in which they 
live : and devoted, as his whole energies from an early period were, to the cause 
of the Redeemer, and with an efficacy rarely in any age equalled, his is a name 
which will be remembered among the worthies of the Church when mere world- 
ly fame is gone. . . . At a period when moderation in the Church of Scot- 
land was at its meridian, or rather at its midnight, he arose, and imagined the 
gigantic enterprise of evangelizing India, with a view to which it was that his 
estate of Airthrey was sold. ... It must be unnecessary to refer to the 
labors of Mr. Haldane. and his still surviving brother. Mr. J. A. Haldane. in this 
fertile field of usefulness. From the Shetland Islands to the southernmost part 
of our land, the influence of the Messrs, Haldane was largely and blessedly 
felt, and numbers date their awakening to the missionary labors of these great 
and devoted men." 

After alluding to the events of his " invaluable life." and 
describing his tall figure and impressive bearing, the " Witness' 1 
proceeds : — 

■ His eve was little, black, and signally penetrating. The general expression 
of his countenance was thoughtful, but bland, good-humored, and not unfre- 
quently humorous ; for he was not only a profound and most acute man. but 
was a kind-hearted man, and could both make and relish a joke. Of his liber- 
ality it is needless to speak." 

He never allowed his picture to be taken, and consequently no 
likeness of him remains, excepting two or three sketches done 
from memory, or as caricatures, which mav recall his appear:.:: _ :- 
to those who knew him. but by no means embody the represen- 
tation of his venerable and commanding presence. Several at- 
tempts were made to induce him to sit for a portrait, and in 1839, 



DEATH OF MRS. HALDANE. 551 

a kind note from his daughter and only child, addressed to Mrs. 
A. Haldane, refers with pleasure to an expectation which then 
seemed on the verge of accomplishment. But his apparent yield- 
ing was not followed up, or perhaps turned out to be only the 
blandness of his manner and the pleasant appreciation of the 
affection which urged the request. 

Mrs. Gordon used herself to say that few pictures gave a better 
idea of the original than his brother's picture did of her father. 
There was, however, a considerable difference, as well as a re- 
semblance. 

Mr. Haldane's death was noticed by the Edinburgh Bible So- 
ciety in becoming terms : — 

" In connection with the cause of Bible circulation, his name must ever be 
held in remembrance. He detected and first exposed those corruptions and 
grievous errors which led to what is commonly known as the Apocrypha con- 
troversy. Clearly perceiving the fearful evils to which loose and prevalent 
views as to the inspiration of God's Word, and the admixture of Apocrypha 
writings with that Word must give rise, he early saw and advocated the neces- 
sity of a separation between the Edinburgh and the British and Foreign Bible 
Societies. He did not, however, rest satisfied with this, but set himself fear- 
lessly and fully to expose those evils which had led to the separation ; and 
aided and supported by the powerful exertions of the late Dr. Andrew Thomson, 
and other faithful champions of the purity of God's Word, he ceased not his 
labors till he had vindicated the plenary inspiration of God's Word, and checked 
the evils complained of, not in Scotland only, but in England, and to a consid- 
erable extent on the Continent of Europe. 

"Till the conclusion of a long and active life, his prayers, his counsels, and 
his contributions animated and directed the efforts of the Edinburgh Bible So- 
ciety ; and now that he has been called from the scene of his labors on earth, 
the Committee feel that to him the language of Scripture may truly be applied, 
' And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, write, Blessed are the dead 
which die in the Lord, from henceforth, yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest 
from their labors, and their works do follow them.' " 

On the 19th of June, 1843, exactly six months from the day 
of her husband's death, the mortal remains of his companion for 
fifty-seven years were laid in the same vault in which his dust 
reposes in the Old Cathedral of Glasgow . She had been in droop- 
ing health, but she was preparing to go to Leamington with her 
daughter, who, at the beginning of April, had lost her second 
son, Robert, after a wasting and protracted illness. She herself 
thought that change of air and scene would revive her, and on 
the 10th of June Mr. James Haldane writes, that "he had that 
day called to see her, and was much struck with her appearance. 



552 DEATH OF MRS. HALDANE. 

I knew she was confined to bed with a cold, but previously felt 
no alarm about her. I have seen her since every day, and con- 
sider her to be in a most precarious state. She has no apprehen- 
sion of danger herself, but her mind appears stayed upon the 
Lord." On the 14th, she peacefully passed to her rest, in her 
75th year. It is no small praise to say that she had gone along 
with her husband in all his varied plans, and although of a dis- 
position neither ardent nor imaginative, had been a willing co- 
operator in all his enterprises, whether they concerned the Indian 
Mission, the sale of Airthrey, the propagation of the Gospel at 
home, or its extension in Switzerland and France. Her husband 
was accustomed to consult with her as to all that he did, and it 
was remarked at Geneva by those who enjoyed their intimacy, 
how often he also prayed with her for a blessing on the labors 
which then engrossed his thoughts. 

On receiving an account of Mr. Haldane's death, the Rev. Ed- 
ward Bickersteth wrote as follows : — 

" To Alexander Haldane, Esq. 
"My dear Haldane, — I must thank you for your truly delightful account 
of your venerable uncle. Such men, indeed, are precious ; and now his works 
will follow him. May we, too, tread in his steps till we meet in our dear Mas- 
ter's presence and glory. To discern, stand by, and maintain God's own truth, 
in the midst of a world neglecting or opposing it, is our present privilege ; and 
to be acknowledged by our Lord, be with Him and like Him and forever, our 
future glory. Surely God is weaning all his servants in all his Churches from 
every earthly stay that they may lean on Him alone. In our one Lord, 

"Very truly yours, 

"E. Bickersteth. 
"Walton Rectory, Ware, Dec. 26, 1842." 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

[1842—1848.] 

Eobert Haldane had now finished his course, whilst more 
than eight years of active usefulness still separated his brother 
from the haven of rest. For some time the attention of both had 
been specially drawn to the doctrine of the atonement, and to cer- 
tain speculative errors as to the moral capabilities of fallen man, 
which had found an advocate amongst the Baptists in one of their 
ablest preachers. In 1842, Mr. J. A. Haldane had in consequence 
published a treatise under the following title : " Man's Eesponsi- 
bility : the Nature and Extent of the Atonement, and the Work 
of the Holy Spirit ; in reply to Mr. Howard Hinton and the Bap- 
tist Midland Association." Mr. Hinton in his zeal to remove the 
cavils of unbelievers, had maintained a kind of semi-Pelagian view 
of our innate ability to receive the Gospel ; whilst at the same 
time, with scriptural orthodoxy, he fully admitted the proposition, 
that no man " who could live or shall live has received or will re- 
ceive the truth without the aid of the Holy Spirit." His errors 
were, therefore, rather metaphysical than substantial, although 
numbers of younger and less enlightened men eagerly embraced 
his views, and carried them to an extent which, in subverting the 
doctrine of the Divine sovereignty, also subverted the Gospel. 
Mr. J. A. Haldane's book sets forth our moral responsibility as a 
fact alike revealed in Scripture and obvious to the perception of 
every man's conscience. But holding fast this truth, and main- 
taining that the rejection of the Gospel is always the result of sin 
or moral guilt, and not of misfortune only, he equally asserts the 
scriptural doctrine of the sovereignty of God, as displayed in the 
history of nations and the lives of individuals. 

" If," he says, " we are content to be guided by the Scriptures, we shall not 
perplex ourselves with vainly attempting to reconcile the sovereignty of God 



554 ON THE ATONEMENT. 

with human responsibility. It is a matter too high for us ; we cannot attain to 
it. The death of Christ was foreordained, yet this did not interfere with the 
responsibility of those who through their wickedness fulfilled the Divine pur- 
pose." 

Mr. D'Israeli, in his " Political Biography of Lord George Ben- 
tinck," has lately endeavored, if we rightly understand him, to 
screen the Jewish nation from the guilt of the crucifixion, by 
pleading the mysterious purposes of God which they fulfilled. 
Thus it is that "parts and parcels of truth" are, as Mr. Howels 
once said, "the most envenomed shafts which fly from the bow 
of Satan." Mr. J. A. Haldane counted it the path of wisdom to 
receive the "Word as he found it written, and neither to overlook 
the controlling, ruling, directing sovereignty of God, nor the 
equally obvious and revealed responsibility of man. The whole 
of this treatise is rich in scriptural views of the glory of God, as 
exhibited in the scheme of redemption. He shows that in order 
to understand the Gospel of salvation, we must rightly under- 
stand our fall in Adam. In Adam all were created. In Adam 
all sinned. In Adam all came "under the curse of a broken 
law," and died. 

" The occasion," says Dr. Owen, " of all the mistakes or errors that have been 
about regeneration, has been a misunderstanding about the true state of men in 
their lapsed condition of nature as depraved." 

Mr. Haldane continues :— 

" That the unnumbered millions of the human race should have been created 
in a single individual, would appear incredible, but the birth of children removes 
the difficulty. Many hold, most inconsistently, that we partake of the conse- 
quences, but not of the guilt of Adam's sin. But 'by one man's sin many were 
made sinners,' and by the righteousness of one shall many be made righteous." 

He thus shows the unity of Adam with every child of his by 
natural generation down to the end of time, and the unity of 
Christ with every child of God by the regeneration of the Holy 
Spirit to all eternity. He shows that Adam's sin was the sin of 
all mankind, and that Christ's righteousness is the righteousness 
of all his saved and blood-bought flock. " There is," he says, 
" a transmission of mind as well as of body. The whole is a 
mystery. We cannot fathom it." 

In his writings, Mr. J. Haldane often enforces his arguments 
by that happy faculty of apposite illustration from anecdote which 
availed so much to his popularity as a preacher.. With reference 



NATITKE OF THE ATONEMENT. 555 

to the folly of endeavoring to divest the Gospel of mystery, and 
bring down heavenly things to the level of our limited capacities, 
he alludes to the embassy sent by Louis XIV. to the King of 
Siam. The ambassador told the King, that in France the cold 
was so intense that men could walk upon the water, and the thing 
appeared so absurd, that the king imagined it was intended as an 
insult, and threatened the narrator of the marvel with instant 
death. Another well-authenticated anecdote to the same effect is 
told of a poor North American Indian, who returned to the back- 
woods of his distant tribe to recount the wonders he had witnessed 
at Washington. They were listened to with doubt and incredu- 
lity, until he declared that he had seen the white people attach a 
great ball to a canoe, and so rise into the clouds and travel through 
the heavens. This was instantly pronounced to be an impossibil- 
ity ; and a young warrior, in a paroxysm of anger, levelled a rifle 
at his head, and shot him dead on the spot, as too great a liar to 
be permitted to live. 

" If, then," exclaims Mr. J. Haldane, " what takes place in another climate, or 
in a different state of society, appears absurd because contrary to experience, 
shall we greatly wonder that the things of the Spirit of God — those heavenly 
and eternal things which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered 
into the heart of man to conceive, — should be foolishness to all who have not 
the Spirit, and are consequently alienated from the life of God?" 

It would be out of place to go at length into a discussion with 
regard to the nature, and still more, as to the extent, of the atone- 
ment. But the great importance which both of the brothers at- 
tached to right views of the atonement, forbids that a statement 
of their sentiments should be altogether omitted. To Socinians 
and Neologians the idea of a Vicarious Sacrifice, by virtue of 
which God and man are reconciled, appears nothing better than 
the dream of an enthusiast. It was to the Jews a scandal, to the 
Greeks foolishness. The first-born of Adam after the fall, spurn- 
ed at the institution of a typical sacrifice of blood. To him, no 
doubt, it appeared contrary to reason and revolting to humanity. 
In the pride of his self-righteousness the haughty will- worshipper, 
approached his Maker with what he deemed the guiltless offering 
"of the fruit of the ground." His younger brother, Abel, dis- 
cerned by faith a righteousness which was to be finished upon 
Mount Calvary, and meekly obedient to the heavenly call, poured 
out the blood of the firstlings of his flock upon the altar of God. 
From that hour down to the present, the question of an atone- 



556 PHILOSOPHICAL OBJECTIONS. 

ment has been one that has divided the two families of which 
the children of Adam were from the first composed. The seed 
of the serpent rejects the idea that a merciful and benevolent 
God requires to be propitiated by blood ; whilst the seed of the 
woman, with childlike simplicity, receives the Gospel, that "God 
so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that who- 
soever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting 
life." The Scripture declares, that, "without the shedding of 
blood there is no remission of sins." The blood, we are told, is 
the life ; and as death was the penalty of sin, so Christ poured 
out his life-blood, and gave himself up as a ransom for many. 
Taking upon him the nature of man, after man had incurred the 
curse of a broken law, he stood in the breach between the of- 
fended majesty of the Divine law, and the devoted race of Adam. 
The curse of the broken covenant fell upon the man Jesus Christ, 
but in the impregnable strength of his eternal Godhead, the pen- 
alty was not only endured, but exhausted. The curse, which 
would have sunk a sinful world to the bottomless pit, was sus- 
tained and rolled away by the Holy One of God. The infinite 
and everlasting Jehovah, tabernacled in flesh, under the con- 
ditions of a broken law, and having satisfied all its requirements, 
he burst the portals of the grave, rose from the dead, and ascend- 
ed in majesty to his Father's throne, whilst angels, and the spirits 
of just men at length made perfect, chanted the triumphant song, 
"Lift up your heads, O ye gates; lift them up, ye everlasting 
doors, and the King of Glory shall come in." 

But this doctrine of an imputed righteousness is foolishness to 
the natural man, and has been assailed by many plausible objec- 
tions, drawn by inferential reasoners from false and insufficient 
premises. In all matters concerning the truth of God, it is in a 
finite creature nothing better than an act of folly to try to over- 
leap the bounds of revelation. It is vain for the finite to grasp 
the Infinite, or for human reason to sound the unfathomable 
depths of Divine wisdom. The Scriptures have told us that 
Christ " bore our sins in his own body on the tree," that he was 
" made a curse for us in order to redeem us from the curse of the 
law." that " the Lord laid upon him the iniquity of us all." 
Here the substitution, the suretyship, the vicarious sacrifice of 
"the Just for the unjust," are clearly declared, and on this foun- 
dation the whole fabric of man's salvation rests. 

In attempting to meet the cavils of objectors, or to smooth away 



PRACTICAL AGREEMENT AMONGST CHRISTIAN'S. 557 

difficulties at which unbelief stumbles, many true Christians have 
been seduced to leave the beaten path of Scripture, and enter on 
the fields of abstract reasoning. The consequences might easily 
be foretold by those who remember the warnings of our Lord 
and his apostles. It is venturing on the wings of speculation into 
the realms of infinite space, where there is nothing to guide, to 
support, or to direct. All is darkness, uncertainty, and gloom. 
The attempt to blend the conclusions of metaphysical theories 
with the authoritative declarations of the Bible, have uniformly 
ended in confusion. Against such a method of dealing with 
Christianity both of the Haldanes earnestly contended from the 
beginning to the end of their career. "How readest thou ?" and 
not " what thinkest thou?" was the shibboleth of their theology. 

With regard to the atonement, there is, as they used to say, 
less of real difference between true Christians who receive the 
Bible as the book of God, than at first sight appears. Where 
there is true faith or confidence in Jesus, that confidence must 
rest on the finished work of an Almighty Saviour, by whom an 
atonement or reconciliation is made between God and the believ- 
ing sinner. No true Christian imagines that he is saved by his 
own act or merits, and when he believes that his salvation is of 
God, and not of himself, he in effect believes in the electing love 
of the Father, in the atoning work of the Son, and in the sanc- 
tifying influence of the Holy Spirit. Thus it is that disputes 
about election and predestination, or the extent of the atonement, 
are, amongst true disciples, generally little more than strifes of 
words, arising out of the partial restoration of spiritual ej^esight. 

Still, as all errors are dangerous, and we are commanded to hold 
fast " the form" as well as the substance of sound doctrine, Mr. 
J. A. Haldane devoted much time and attention to the refutation 
of the novel and metaphysical views of the atonement, which were 
successively supported by Mr. Hinton, Dr. Jenkyn, Dr. Payne, and 
the still more venerable authority of Dr. Wardlaw. He himself 
stood by the old doctrine, which he had learned as a child out of 
the Westminster Assembly's Catechism — that doctrine in which 
he had been confirmed by the study of the Scriptures during 
more than fifty years — that doctrine which was taught not mere- 
ly by the old Scottish and Puritan Divines, but by many of the 
brightest ornaments of the English and Foreign Churches. 

In 1843, he published an excellent little tract on the atone- 
ment, and in 1845 a more elaborate but still condensed work on 



558 EEALITY OF THE ATONEMENT. 

the same subject, entitled, "The Doctrine of the Atonement, 
with Strictures on the recent Publications of Drs. Wardlaw and 
Jenkyn." Dr. Wardlaw not only maintained the universality of 
the atonement, but, like Mr. Hinton, that men have " power to 
believe and turn to Grod." Some students of Dr. Wardlaw's, and 
also of the Associate Synod, taking advantage of these incautious 
concessions, proceeded to deny the doctrine of election and the 
necessity of the work of the Spirit, and thus adopted heresies, 
which, as Mr. J. Haldane remarked, accord better with the wis- 
dom of this world, and " promise to modify, if not to remove, 
the hitherto insuperable difficulty of God's absolute sovereignty 
in the bestowal of salvation." The system against which he con- 
tended teaches that the atonement was an exhibition or a display, 
a make-believe, sl show or shadow of justice, whilst the Scripture 
declares it to be a reality. 

" In all that is done by the Almighty," says Mr. J. H., " there is a substance, 
a reality, which repels the notion of a mere public display being the end of 
his proceedings. Those, therefore, have greatly erred, who would resolve the 
whole mystery of the wisdom, power, and love of God, comprised in the atone- 
ment, into a design of making an impression on his creatures, as if it were 
'public justice' only that demanded the death of Christ. The atonement is in- 
deed a wonderful manifestation of the righteousness, holiness, mercy, and truth 
of God ; but the necessity of the atonement did not result from the existence 
of any creature excepting the transgressor. The eternal justice and truth of 
God imperatively demanded the punishment of the guilty; and had Adam stood 
alone, the solitary creature of the Almighty, the essential attributes and char- 
acter of God, his holiness, justice, and truth would have rendered his doom in- 
evitable, had not wisdom and mercy combined to devise a remedy, by which the 
claims of justice and truth are satisfied in all their boundless extent. . . . 
Far be it, then, from those who love the Lord, to represent the atonement as 
an expedient for the exhibition of public justice, instead of being an actual sat- 
isfaction to the justice of God. . . . The wisdom of God, even the hidden 
wisdom, consists in this, that the 'debt of obedience' is paid actually, not figu- 
ratively, by our great Surety; that our guilt is as effectually covered with the 
robe of Christ's righteousness as if it had never existed ; and that believers 
have fulfilled the law in all its length and breadth, so that, with adoring admi- 
ration of Him who loved them and washed them from their sins in his own 
blood, they dare challenge the universe to lay anything to their charge. Is this 
the language of those who ' have been and ever must continue guilty?' " 

He then shows that the mystery of the absolution of the guilty 
is explained by the Unity of Christ with his members. 

" It was not," he says, ' another who appeared as their surety. It was the 
head of the body of which they are the members, and the unity of the head and 
the members of the natural body is not more real than that of Christ and his 



DR. PAYNE'S METAPHYSICS. 559 

people. This is the mystery of faith. It may elude the grasp of human in- 
telligence; it may be one of those things into which the angels desire to look. 
But the fact is certain. He hath said it, and instead of perplexing ourselves 
about the properties of 'commutative or distributive justice,' it will be our 
wisdom to bow with adoring humility to the unfathomable wisdom of God, 
and receiving, as little children, the truth as it is in Jesus, to learn the meaning 
of Christ's words, ' I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou 
hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto 
babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.' " 

In 1847, a second edition of this work being called for, Mr. 
J. A. Haldane added an Appendix of Strictures on Dr. Payne's 
Lectures on the same subject. These Lectures he considered as 
a practical illustration of the danger of " blending metaphysics 
with Scripture." 

" Dr. Payne," he says, " seems to court the title of a Philosophical Divine. 
It is a dangerous eminence. The man who aspires to it trespasses on forbid- 
den ground. * Stop, traveller !' is inscribed on the entrance gate. Paul, the 
ambassador of Jesus Christ, with all the authority of his apostolic character, 
and under the infallible guidance of inspiration, warns us of the danger of 
blending our philosophy with the doctrine of Jesus. (Col. ii. 8.) It is im- 
possible to neglect the warning without becoming the dupes of our own sub- 
tleties." 

Unless the sovereignty of God in election be set aside, Mr. 
Haldane argues that neither the metaphysics of Dr. Payne and 
Mr. Hinton, nor the still more powerful logic of Dr. Wardlaw, 
will avail : — 

" If," he continues, — " if the work of the Spirit be as essential to salvation 
as the work of Christ, an atonement having been made for all brings no one 
nearer to the kingdom of God, for without the sovereign, efficacious work of 
the Spirit, there is an absolute impossibility of a sinner's salvation, so that 
your opening a door of hope for all is only uncovering a grave that the dead 
may come forth ; it is lighting a candle that the blind may see ; it is opening 
a door for a man without legs to walk out of prison." 

Mr. J. Haldane's object was to .exhibit the simple truth of 
Scripture, and at the same time to expose the futility of every 
attempt to explain or remove difficulties by philosophical specu- 
lations. In one word, he held the doctrine of the substitution 
and vicarious sacrifice of Christ to be a reality instead of a fic- 
tion, and as to difficulties, " what we know not now, we shall 
know hereafter." 

But connected with the discussion as to the nature of the 
atonement, there is another question as to the extent of its ope- 



560 EXTENT OF THE ATONEMENT. 

ration, which has unhappily divided some Churches and many 
Christians, who hold the doctrines of election and of free sov- 
ereign grace, in a way which ought to cut off all ground for 
serious difference of opinion. The question as to general and 
particular redemption is one of which Joseph Milner says, in his 
" Church History," that he regrets it ever was opened. There 
is a sense in which Jesus Christ as man redeemed the world, 
including animate and inanimate creation, from the usurpation 
of Satan ; and in this life there is also a sense in which, " for the 
elect's sake," every creature that breathes on this earth partici- 
pates in the benefits of redemption. There is also a sense in 
which all mankind are brought under the purchased dominion 
of the Son, to whom all judgment is committed by the Father. 
But whether atonement or reconciliation can be said to belong to 
those who die in their sins, and either reject the Gospel or never 
hear it, is a question which has divided many Christians whose 
views of the doctrines of free grace are substantially the same. 
The Scriptures contain a plain warrant to preach the Gospel to 
every creature. There is no exception. It is addressed to sin- 
ners throughout the whole world, whether Jew or Gentile, male 
or female, barbarian, Scythian, bond or free. Christianity is not, 
like Judaism, intended for a particular nation or selected family. 
It is glad tidings for every inhabitant of the world who hears 
and believes the testimony declared by the Father, that Jesus is 
the Christ, the only-begotten and well-beloved Son of God, in 
whom He is well pleased. " Whosoever believes" this testimony, 
may conclude with certainty that for him Christ died. 

In so far all are agreed who receive the saving truths of God. 
But, unhappily, other questions have arisen which are more 
speculative and perplexing, and with the view of removing 
stumbling-blocks, it has been declared that Christ shed his pre- 
cious blood equally for the lost as well as for the saved, for 
Judas as well as for Paul, for the millions and millions to whom 
the Gospel is never sent, as well as for the countless multitude 
who hear and believe. If this speculative question were settled 
in the affirmative, would it remove one of those difficulties which 
are now an offence to the enemies of the Gospel ? 

If Christ died for the whole world, and the term world is to be 
understood in an unrestricted sense, without the limitations which 
the sense again and again requires for the same word in other 
places, would it not be asked, Why is not the Gospel carried to 



SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. 561 

every quarter of the globe, and why do millions in every age die 
in ignorance and blindness, without the knowledge of the costly 
salvation supposed to have been prepared for their acceptance? 
AY as all this provision in vain? Is there not, at all events, as 
much of the supposed mockery in speaking of an atonement or 
reconciliation hidden from three fourths of the adult world who 
die unreconciled, as in speaking of an atonement which was only 
for those who, if they arrive at years of understanding, manifest 
by their faith, that they are the sheep whom the Father hath given 
to Christ? (John x. 17, and xvii. 10.) The difficulties remain 
the same in either case, unless it be said that the Gospel is preach- 
ed to condemn the world, or at least that portion of it which re- 
jects the truth, — an allegation that would rather seem to militate 
against our Lord's declaration, that he came " not to condemn, but 
to save." 

To all cavils there is but one answer, and it is that by which 
the apostle stated and silenced the objection to the sovereignty 
of God. (Rom. ix. 20.) If it had been the will of God, the Gos- 
pel of salvation through Jesus Christ might have passed with the 
lightning speed of electricity to every corner of the globe on the 
day of Pentecost. Had it been the will of God, the Gospel might 
have been preached to every creature under heaven without ex- 
ception, and the same irresistible power which arrested Saul on 
the road to Damascus could have unlocked every heart to receive 
the truth. But this did not seem good to Him who ordereth all 
things according to his sovereign pleasure in the armies of heaven 
and amongst the inhabitants of the earth, and we know who has 
said, " No man cometh unto me except the Father draw him." 
But why are not all drawn? "Ask not the reason," says Bene- 
dict Pictet; "it is secret, but not unjust." It is enough to know 
that the command is plain, " Preach the Gospel to every creature/ 1 
and that the promise of salvation is secure to "whosoever be- 
lieve." For "whosoever" will believe, there is an ample provis- 
ion ; for all who will enter in, the door stands open ; for all who 
will drink, the fountain flows. But whether there be reconcilia- 
tion provided for those who die unreconciled, whether there be 
the same provision for those who reject as for those who receive 
the Gospel, — for those who turn away from the water of life as 
for those who drink, — for those who spurn at the door of mercy 
as for those who meekly enter in, are questions which do not seem 
to involve any practical result, and on which there is surely room 

36 



562 SCRIPTURAL THEOLOGY. 

for the exercise of mutual charity amongst those who equally 
believe that by grace, and by grace alone, are we saved, and that 
Jesus Christ is all in all. 

These remarks are made not in a polemical spirit, but for the 
purpose of explaining the discussion concerning the nature of the 
atonement and its extent, in which Mr. J. A. Haldane took so 
prominent a part. He was in his seventy-seventh year when his 
last treatise on the atonement appeared, and he was verging on 
fourscore when he published the second and enlarged edition, with 
the appendix in reply to Dr. Payne. By a very distinguished 
theologian, who has also used it as a class-book, it was pronounced 
to be the most vigorous, acute, and logical of all Mr. James Hal- 
dane's works. The same eminent Presbyterian divine also lately 
added, that, in his opinion, it was the best and the soundest work 
on the atonement he had ever met with, having regard to its con 
densation of solid truth as well as to its sound, scriptural theology 
Mr. J. A. Haldane had proclaimed the Gospel in all its freeness 
with a fervor and a success seldom exceeded. His own views are 
the reflection of those contained in the Confession of the Church 
of Scotland, and in the seventeenth article of the Church of Eng- 
land. No man could charge him with occupying himself with 
curious points, preaching only to the elect, or by reference to the 
secret counsels of God, fettering the proclamation of pardon to 
repenting sinners. His works, therefore, on the atonement had 
the double advantage of being the mature opinions of a man 
mighty in the Scriptures, and one whose gift seemed especially 
' designed for awakening the careless and persuading sinners to the 
knowledge of the truth. Both of the brothers distinctly held 
that but for his chosen sheep, Christ never would have shed his 
^precious blood, and that no sacrifice could avail without the prayer 
or intercession of the Priest. (Heb. vii. 25 ; Eom. viii. 34.) They 
also held that there must be perfect unity, both of design and of 
execution, in the Godhead. The unity of the Godhead required, 
that as was the extent of the Father's gift, and the extent of the 
sanctifying work of the Holy Ghost, such also must be the extent 
of the atonement or reconciliation effected by the Son. To sup- 
pose that Christ died for those who were not given to him of the 
Father, and whom the Holy Ghost does not sanctify, and for 
whom Christ himself would not intercede (John xvii. 9), was to 
impute not only disunion, but inconsistency, to the operation o^ 
the three persons of the blessed Trinity. 



LETTER TO THE "EVANGELICAL MAGAZINE." 563 

But holding these decided views, no man preached the Gospel 
more freely and fully than Mr. J. A. Haldane, and no man more 
disapproved than he did of that unwarrantable method which, 
overlooking the responsibility of man, only addresses the invita- 
tion to the elect, whose names are in the book of life. He rested 
his appeals on a firm conviction that every human being is bound 
to believe the testimony of the Father, that Christ is his beloved 
Son ; that the rejection of this testimony is the result of moral 
depravity and not of natural inability ; that whosoever believes 
this testimony shall have eternal life, whilst those who reject the 
testimony are justly condemned, because, by their unbelief, they 
exhibit their enmity to truth, and make God a liar. But he never 
called upon each and every sinner to believe that Christ died or 
offered up a sacrifice for him in particular, because he was con- 
vinced that Christ, in his priestly character, never offered a sac- 
rifice for those on whose behalf he did not intercede. It was the 
neglect of this distinction which, in his opinion, produced so much 
confusion amongst many good men who substantially hold and 
desire to preach the same Gospel. 

The secession which at this time took place from the Congre- 
gational Union in Scotland gave rise to some discussion in the 
"Evangelical Magazine" for 1844 (p. 670), and for 1845 (p. 142). 
In these articles a Scotch Congregationalist, willing to justify his 
own denomination, and transfer the origin of the new heresies to 
a remote cause, with more of ingenuity than of truth or logic, 
traced the mischiefs which had sprung up to what had occurred 
nearly fifty years before in connection with Mr. Haldane's semi- 
naries. Mr. J. A. Haldane was prevailed on to put on record a 
contradiction of these mis-statements, and it appeared in the 
" Evangelical Magazine" for 1846 (p. 249). His letter to the ed- 
itor is important, partly as a memorial of the doctrinal consistency 
and sobriety of both the brothers, partly as an evidence of their 
uniform aversion to the frigid system of Sandemanianism, and 
partly as a testimony to the character of most of the students who 
were educated in the seminaries of Glasgow, Dundee, and Edin- 
burgh. In the letter he alludes to his first preaching tour, under- 
taken in 1797, with the view of calling attention to the Gospel, 
but adds, that, "whilst I hope I have learned something by study- 
ing the Scriptures for almost fifty years, if I were asked in what 
respect my present views of any great doctrine of the Gospel dif- 



564 LETTER TO THE 

fer from my sentiments in 1797, I could not specify one particu- 
lar." He adds: — 

"It may be a reproach, in the opinion of your correspondent, that I hold 'the 
doctrines of the Westminster Confession,' but I am still willing to bear it, and 
to this day I prefer it to the improvements made upon it by writers, either in 
America, Scotland, or England. And I am confirmed in this preference when 
I witness the fruits of a deviation from some of these doctrines, both in the 
Secession and Congregational Churches of Scotland." 

He then relates what has been already stated in an early part 
of this volume, with reference to his own and his brother's pro- 
test in 1801 against the use of Sandemans works by Mr. Ewing 
in the seminary at Glasgow, and his continued and uniform dis- 
approval of them since that period. He adds: — 

" Sandeman may be said to set aside the work of the Spirit, for he discourages 
all concern about salvation in the unconverted; but he carries the doctrine of 
Divine sovereignty so high, that it would appear the sinner has nothing to do 
but to wait till God reveal His Son in him." 

A quotation had been made by the writer in the " Evangelical 
Magazine" from a work on " Errors in Religion," by Mr. Douglas, 
of Cavers, from which it appeared that Mr. Douglas had associated 
the leaders of "the Haldane movement" with some peculiar opin- 
ions relating to the preparation of food, entertained by that gen- 
tleman's early friend and relative, Dr. Stuart. On this point Mr. 
J. A. Haldane replies : — 

" For my own part, I have always understood the precept, Acts xv. 28, 29, 
as being parallel to Rom. xiv. 15, and that it was given from regard to the Jews, 
in whose synagogues Moses was read every Sabbath-day. I never at any time 
held this prohibition as perpetual, and that my brother's sentiments were simi- 
lar is proved by the fact, that when Mr. Ewing was about to publish his lecture 
on Acts xv. 28, 29, my brother intimated his intention of taking a number of 
copies, till he heard that Mr. Ewing insisted on the obligation under which be- 
lievers are laid to abstain from blood, when he told him that in that case he 
could not encourage the sale." 

Although Mr. J. A. Haldane's strength seemed long to triumph 
over age, yet frequent attacks of gout reminded him, as he him- 
self wrote, that " the clouds returned after the rain." In a letter 
written when he was seventy-five, he says : — 

" As to exertion and fatigue, you greatly overrate my labors, and I do not feel 
more fatigued on the Lord's-day evening- than on other days. If ever I find, as 
is likely should I live a little longer, that my work is too great, I will give up 
the Lord's-day evening service. At present this is not necessary." 



DEATH OF MR. CLEGHORN. 565 

Thus, until verging on fourscore years, did he himself conduct 
three services every Lord's-day, preaching twice, besides adminis- 
tering the Lord's Supper in the morning and delivering two ad- 
dresses, equal in length to one full sermon. 

In the spring of 1843 he had a severe attack of gout, to which 
he alludes in the following extract from a letter to Mrs. M'Neil, 
which indicates the perfect peace that possessed his soul : — 

"Edinburgh, April 9th, 1843. 
" The account which you give of the state of your mind when you received 
relief from the Gospel is very affecting. The Lord leads the blind in a way they 
know not, and in paths that they have not known. You went to Thurso for 
your health in 1797, and the Lord was pleased to meet you there and to guide 
your feet into the way of peace. I shall never forget the kindness I received 
from your worthy father, and, indeed, from all the family. I spent some very 
happy hours at Staxigo, the recollection of which is still grateful, although 
most of those in whose company they were passed have gone the way of all 
the earth. Well ! we shall go to them, but they will not return to us. We 
can anticipate uniting with them in the new song of praise to Him who loved 
us, and hath washed us from our sins in his own blood. I am sorry to hear that 
you have been so unwell, but I unite with you in giving thanks to the God of 
our life for your restoration. T have also had an attack of gout, to which I am 
subject. I was laid aside for three Lord's-days, but was able to preach last 
Lord's-day. I heard lately of a woman in the Highlands, who had been very 
ill. A friend visited her, to whom she said, 'I thought our next meeting would 
have been before the throne, but either I am not meet for that blessed place, or 
my Father has something more for me to do.' Well, which, think you, is the 
true reason? Why, to tell you the truth, I believe it is the last; for when I 
think of the glory of my Redeemer's righteousness, in which I shall stand be- 
fore God, it seems so complete that I have no fear of my acceptance. ' I went,' 
continued she, ' to my neighbors on my recovery, and told them I was sent back 
to them from the dead, and some were much affected, and I have reason to 
believe that one is seeking the way to Zion.' I used to call frequently on Mr. 
Cleghorn ; although his weakness prevented him from speaking in public, 1 
thought it a great privilege to converse with him. He was constantly employed 
in searching the Scriptures, and was delighted to speak of the wondrous things 
which he had discovered in God's holy law. I saw him not long before his 
death ; indeed, the first intimation I got of it was in a letter asking me to his 
funeral. I was unwell, and unable to go. And now I commend you to God 
and to the word of His grace. May He support and comfort you, and sanctify 
you wholly ! May you be enabled to look steadfastly within the veil, and be- 
holding in the unveiled face of Jesus, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, may 
you be changed into the same image, from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of 
the Lord. 

" Believe me, my dear Mrs. M'Neil, yours very affectionately, 

" J. A. HALrANE." 



566 ILLNESS OF ELIZABETH HALDANE. 

In the summer of 1843, lie was induced, on account of his gout, 
to repair to Buxton with Mrs. Haldane. He went by sea to Lon- 
don, and remained at Hatcham for some time. During his visit, 
he was able to take long walks with as little fatigue as ever, and, 
accompanied by his grandchildren, almost daily made some little 
excursion. Greenwich Hospital was a very favorite object, and 
he took particular pleasure in seeing the old sailors in their mag- 
nificent asylum, and in watching the shipping on their still more 
majestic river. It was at this time that the following letter was 
written by that venerable and excellent man, the late Kev. George 
Collison, so well known in connection with the Theological Semi- 
nary of the Village Itinerant Society : — 

" There are," he says, " few things of the kind that would afford me more 
gratification than to meet your venerable father for a few hours at Hatcham 
House." After stating his engagements, and proposing a particular day, Mr. 
Collison adds : " Should this be inconvenient, I can only request my affectionate 
regards to the venerable minister of the grace of God, with sincere prayer for 
his abundant comfort in the last stage of his important ministry. The names 
of ' Robert Haldane' and \ James Haldane' are so blended with all my mental 
associations respecting the kingdom of Christ forty years ago, that I must al- 
most forget myself before I can forget them." 

From London Mr. Haldane proceeded to Buxton, where, as 
usual, he took long walks on the week-days, and preached twice 
every Lord's-day with great power to good congregations. From 
the baths and change of scene he appeared to derive great benefit, 
and returned home about the middle of October. On his arrival, 
he writes: — 

" On reviewing our journey we see much cause for gratitude to God, and 
there is no part of it on which I look back with so great pleasure as to the 
time I spent with you at Hatcham and at Buxton, and all your kindness, as 
well as that of dear Emma and her sister Selina, to both of whom I shall write 
as soon as I can get my hands free of matters which have accumulated in my 
absence. It is my daily prayer that the Lord's blessing may rest on you and all 
your family. You will be surprised to learn that Dr. Malan is here. He was 
at Aberdeen yesterday, and goes to the Assembly" of the Free Church to-mor- 
row at Glasgow. He speaks of being with you. Here I hope he will be with 
us, and preacli for me next Lord's-day." 

Scarcely had he arrived in Edinburgh, when the illness of his 
eldest and beloved daughter Elizabeth, who remained with her 
brother, recalled him to Hatcham. She had for many years been 
in bad health, but without any immediate apprehensions of a fatal 



LETTER ON THE RESURRECTION. 567 

issue. Her father was most anxious to take her home, as it was 
impossible for him, without the neglect of his public duties, to 
remain away from Edinburgh. A land journey would have been 
too fatiguing for her, but it was at last arranged that she should 
go by sea, and her cousin, Mrs. Haldane Gordon, who was then 
staying at Hatcham, kindly attended her on the voyage. She 
survived, without much suffering, till the 20th of December. On 
the evening preceding her death, her father writes : — 

" If you come this week I hope you will see her alive. I had never spoken 
to her about my thoughts of her danger till yesterday. I had no doubt of her 
union with Christ, and confidently expected that he would lead her to speak on 
the subject. When alone with her, she asked me whether I thought the disease 
advancing rapidly. I told her I did, and that she must have seen from the be- 
ginning that I had no hope of her recovery. She said, she knew this, and was 
looking to Jesus as her only hope ; that she had long known the Lord, and felt 
secure in his love." 

In the same letter he proceeds, at a later hour : — 

"Dear Elizabeth is very weak. Whether she will rally is at present doubt- 
ful, but she expressed the hope that she might live to see you once more, but 
was afraid that she would not be able to speak to you when you came. Her 
mind is quite comfortable. She said to me, when I was speaking to her a little 
while ago, that she had got the wish for which she had prayed on the evening 
of her mother's death, that she might go before me, and not see me die. I re- 
minded her of Jordan being dried up, when the feet of the priests touched the 
water, so that Israel passed through dry-shod, and so the empty grave of Jesus 
stands at the entrance of the dark valley, the pledge of death being swallowed 
up in victory." 

Nearly two years afterwards the following letter was written 
on the occasion of the death of Miss Hardcastle, the early friend 
of his departed daughter and the only surviving sister of his 
daughter-in-law : — ■ 

"Edinburgh, November 6th, 1845. 

" My dearest Emma, — I have just received Alexander's letter informing us 
of the removal of dear Selina. It was very unexpected, although the state of 
her health for so long a time rendered it an event which might reasonably be 
looked for. I wrote to her on Monday, and my letter would arrive a few hours 
after her departure. Many years ago Selina and Elizabeth were together at 
Hatcham, and I did not then anticipate, that, although so much older, I should 
survive them both. But the path of death is to be trodden by all, and it is to 
believers the porch of eternal life. It has been called by a heathen the birthday 
of eternity. The life of all his posterity was committed to Adam, and he for- 
feited it ; but the life of the believer is hid with Christ in God, and the second 
Adam has said, Because I live ye shall live also. In him, their glorious head, 



568 MISSIONARY EFFORTS. 

they suffered the penalty of their guilt. The triumphant shout, ' It is finished,' 
was re-echoed from the everlasting hills, when Jesus was raised from the dead 
l>y the glory of the Father, and Justice and Mercy united in rolling away the 
stone, that the Prince of Life, the head of the new creation, might come forth 
from the sepulchre in which he was laid, when he bore the sins of his people in 
his own body on the tree. We are not called to sorrow for dear Selina, as 
those who have no hope. She has, I doubt not, slept in Jesus, and joined the 
spirits of the just made perfect, and we must all shortly follow. The more we 
are freed from self-righteousness, the more we look to the righteousness of 
Christ, the more comfort shall we enjoy. Some have called faith and repent- 
ance the conditions of the new covenant. Both are essentially necessary, they 
accompany salvation, but we may as well term holiness the condition, for with- 
out holiness no man shall see the Lord. Faith terminates in its great object ; 
the source of our comfort therefore is out of ourselves, and hence it is that 
salvation is by faith, not by love, or any disposition, or Christian grace, wrought 
in ourselves; he that glorieth must glory in the Lord. 

" The dispensation will be peculiarly trying to you, but I trust you will ex- 
perience that the Lord's grace is sufficient for you, or, in the language of the 
Old Testament, in which spiritual things are set forth by those which are earthly 
and typical, that your shoes shall be iron and brass, and that as your day is so 
shall your strength be. The great promise of the Old Testament was the in- 
carnation of Christ. Its accomplishment has vindicated the faithfulness of God. 
The great promise of the New Testament is the second appearing of the Son 
of God, and he hath said, Behold, I come quickly. May we all respond, ' Even 
so, come, Lord Jesus.' It is a great satisfaction to Mrs. Hald^ne and myself 
that we saw Selina once more before her removal. She sometimes spoke of 
being able to visit Edinburgh, when the railway was completed. Hereafter the 
people of God will not be separated from each other by distance. 

" Believe me, my dearest Emma, 

" Most affectionately yours, 

" J. A. Haldane." 

Mr. Haldane's public engagements were still discharged without 
intermission, and the time which he devoted to correspondence 
with the Highland preachers itinerating for the Baptist Home 
Missionary Society, indicated that the spirit which animated his 
early labors was unabated. That institution was somewhat simi- 
lar to the original Society for Propagating the Gospel at home, 
and employed about forty itinerants, to carry the Gospel through 
the Highlands. For many years the preachers were accustomed 
to consult him in every difficulty, and receive from him directions 
as to their spheres of duty. To the energetic vigilance with which 
he watched over their appointment, to the prayerful wisdom with 
which he directed their movements, to the combined firmness 
and gentleness with which he counselled, admonished, or, if need- 



DR. CANDLISH — CHRISTIAN" UNION. 569 

ful, rebuked, may be traced, under God, much of the good fruit 
that crowned their exertions. 

In a letter, dated November 14th, 1844, Mr. Haldane gives 
the details of the incidents connected with the death of the cele- 
brated Dr. Abercrombie, which was very sudden, and somewhat 
similar in its circumstances to that of Dr. Chalmers. He con- 
tinues : — 

" He lately sent me a little book, the first of a series intended for the young, 
on the discipline of the mind, not anticipating that it was to be his last. But I 
have no doubt that he is gone to Jesus." 

Dr. Abercrombie, whose reputation was European, both as a 
physician and a philosopher, had been many years before a mem- 
ber of Mr. Haldane's Church, and although having first returned 
to the Establishment, and then gone out with the Free Church, a 
pastoral relation no longer subsisted between him and Mr. Hal- 
dane, yet they both felt towards each other a mutual esteem and 
regard. 

In 1845 he announced, with much satisfaction, the success of 
his eldest son, by his second marriage, Daniel Eutherford, who 
was pursuing, with great success, the study of Medicine at the 
Edinburgh University. " I believe," he writes, " it is unprece- 
dented to gain, at the same time, both the junior and senior prizes. 
The Professor was much surprised. He also gained the first prize 
in Physiology, and perhaps would have had that in Anatomy 
too, had he not lost all the last summer by his illness." 

In a letter, dated June 4th, 1845, he thus writes : — 

" I went, last night, to a Meeting to promote unity. Sir Andrew Agnew 
was in the chair. Mr. Winslovv, from Leamington, spoke ; also D'Aubigne and 
Monod; Guthrie, of the Free Church ; Drummond and Crowther, Episcopalian ; 
and Candlish concluded. I came away before Dr. Candlish spoke, which I re- 
gretted, for I understand it was the best speech of the evening. He disclaimed 
presuming to judge between essentials and non-essentials, and said in regard to 
what God had revealed and commanded we were bound to obey in all things, 
but still to exercise forbearance to each other. On every question on which I 
have heard him, he always takes high ground. He is decidedly the leader of 
the Free Church. A man's gift maketh room for him." 

These were always his views on Christian union, and he shortly 
afterwards published a little treatise on the subject, in which he 
cites, as embodying his mature opinions, what he had written 
more than forty years before, in his book on Social Worship. In 
a letter, dated January 5th, 1846, he says, " I do not expect it ip 



570 HIS VIEWS OF CHURCH ORDINANCES. 

be popular. The first part will probably be most so. Mr. Why te 
(the publisher), on reading it ordered two hundred and fifty ad 
ditional copies to be thrown off. He should have waited until he 
saw the whole." In another letter he writes, " I am not surprised 
that you do not agree with the second part of the pamphlet" (rel 
ative to the duty of following what he deemed the apostolic 
usages), " but I am fully convinced it is right. The disunion of 
Christians will continue whilst Moses and Elias remain upon the 
mount. There are many good men in the Church of England, 
but I greatly fear, and I say it with grief, that a great part of the 
clergy of the Church of England will go into Popery. I do not 
make these remarks to introduce any controversy with you. You 
are living, I trust, by the faith of Jesus, and have received that 
anointing which teacheth all things, although, in some points be- 
longing to the kingdom of Christ, I consider you to be in error, 
and I pray the Lord to guide you in all things, and to preserve 
you to his heavenly kingdom." 

In 1848 he published an Exposition of the Epistle to the Gala- 
tians, a volume in which, as in all his writings, there are many 
delightful and edifying views of Divine truth, and many valuable 
illustrations of the connection between the Old and New Testa- 
ments. But the third chapter unavoidably led him to discuss the 
question of baptism, and this necessarily rendered the book less 
acceptable to those who hold the importance of infant baptism. 
It is to this objection he alludes in the following letter. The 
firmness with which he adheres to what he believed to be the will 
of God, blended with so much charity towards those with whom 
he differed, will however command the respect of all who admire 
the union of manliness, fidelity, and candor :— 

" I am fully sensible that anything I write would be more generally accept- 
able were I to omit bringing forward my views respecting Christian ordinances. 
My doing so does not arise from party spirit, or a desire to exalt any one de- 
nomination. I see much evil in all, and am convinced of the obligation under 
which believers are laid to forbear with each other. I am convinced that the 
corruption of the doctrine of Christ originated in the corruption of the ordinances. 
The doctrine is embodied in the ordinances. ... To represent the ordi- 
nances as of little consequence, provided we hold by the great doctrines, is like 
a man saying of a geographical work, that, provided the text be correct, the 
maps are of little consequence. The description in the text ought to be ex- 
hibited in the maps, and where they correspond, we have a much clearer con- 
ception of the relative position of the places, than we could otherwise have. If 
they do not correspond, it only confuses and perplexes ns. I am perfectly 



HIS VIEWS OF CHURCH ORDINANCES. 571 

aware that the power of religion does not always correspond with the apparent 
accuracy of our views of the ordinances, and that many members of unscriptural 
Churches are far superior in point of devotedness to God to those in a com- 
munion guided by the example of the Apostolic Churches, and not only so, but 
I see some who have lax and unscriptural views of some of the great doctrines 
of the Gospel superior to others who appear better instructed, but still I do not 
feel myself at liberty to deviate from the custom of the Apostolic Churches 
when I find the apostles so anxious that there should be no deviation from their 
practice. (1 Cor. xi. 2.) Those who think it their duty to separate from the 
world, may be viewed as narrow-minded bigots, placing religion in external ob- 
servances. But the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. I heartly rejoice in the 
number of faithful ministers of any denomination being increased. 1 see many, 
in what I Am fully convinced to be most unscriptural situations, far better than 
myself; but lam Christ's servant, — I observe his ordinances in faith, and lean- 
not be satisfied that I am right without an equal conviction that those who are 
otherwise minded are wrong. For my part, I durst no more have published an 
Exposition of the Galatians, and have slurred over chapter iii. 27, than have put 
my hand in the fire. The object I had in view was to show that the great body 
of Christians are in the situation of those who were under the influence of the 
Judaizing teachers. When I was baptized, nearly fifty years ago, I was con- 
vinced that it was the will of God, but I see its importance far more now than 
I did then. It is not with me a party matter. I would prefer associating with 
a Church of England man, or a Presbyterian who was spiritual and humble, 
than with a Baptist who was lifted up with a conceit that he was something. I 
would not give up the benefit I have received from right views of baptism in 
regard to the Gospel for any consideration. May the Lord be with you ; draw 
near to him, and he will never leave you, nor forsake you. 

" Yours, ever most affectionately, 

" J. A. H." 

This chapter has conducted us over six years of the life of the 
surviving brother. It exhibits him bringing forth fruit in old 
age, and up to the age of fourscore laboring with undiminished 
zeal for the glory of God, and the salvation of sinners. Were it 
possible to withdraw the curtain which conceals his domestic and 
private life, to exhibit the closeness of his walk with God, and 
the calm sunshine of spiritual peace which possessed his soul, it 
would also be possible to understand something of the practical 
and sanctifying influence of those doctrines for which he so long 
and earnestly contended. His letters are, perhaps, the best me- 
morials of that simple faith, that deep experience, that settled 
peace and assurance, which cheered and irradiated the sunset of 
his long and arduous career. The limits of these memoirs forbid 
the insertion of much of his correspondence, and some occasional 
fragments must, of necessity, suffice. The following are parts of 
letters written on the death of the two brothers of his daughter- 



572 DEATH OF MR. ALFRED HARDCASTLE. 

in-law in London, the sons of his own and his brother's friend, Mr. 
Hardcastle, whose name was, at the outset of their career, so much 
associated with the promotion of all the great missionary objects 
which distinguished the close of the last century. The second of 
Mr. Hardcastle 's three sons especially resembled his father both 
in features and in character, and with him Mr. J. A. Haldane had 
enjoyed much intercourse. It was whilst absent on a journey, 
which they made together into Scotland, that Mr. Alfred Hard- 
castle wrote of him to his sister, "I cannot express the increasing 
reverence I feel for that good man's character." On hearing of 
his death, produced by a sudden inflammatory attack in his fifty- 
first year, he wrote as follows : — 

"Edinburgh, March 11th, 1842. 
"My dearest Alexander, — When I saw the outside of your letter, I too 
surely anticipated the melancholy tidings it contained. But why should I say 
melancholy ? An heir of God and a joint heir of Christ has finished his ap- 
pointed course of trial and disappointment, and has entered into the joy of his 
Lord. Since he was called by grace he has had fellowship with Jesus in the 
troubles of life, and now the last scene of his fellowship with his suffering 
Saviour is safely ended, aud he has departed to be with Christ, which is far 
better. With what different eyes does he now regard all that is in the world, 
and with what gratitude to Him who bought him with his blood, does he look 
forward to an exceeding and eternal weight of glory ! His lot in this world 
was smooth and prosperous, but he now looks back upon all external circum- 
stances as less than nothing and vanity, except as they bore upon that unchang- 
ing state into which he has entered. And yet his happiness is still incomplete ; 
Satan is not yet bruised under his feet, for he still retains the mortal body in 
the prison of the grave ; but the resurrection of Jesus is the assured pledge of 
the reunion of soul and body, — not in dishonor, as being doomed to separation; 
not in weakness, as being subject to pain and dissolution ; not a natural body, 
as being derived from the first man, who was of the earth earthy; but a glori- 
ous, a spiritual body, of which the glorious body of the second Man, the Lord 
from heaven, is the pattern. The Lord said to his apostles, ' Ye are they which 
have continued with me in my temptations, and I appoint unto you a kingdom 
as my Father hath appointed unto me.' In this there was something peculiar 
to them, as the chosen ambassadors of Christ ; the twelve foundations of his 
Church, as resting upon Him, the chief corner-stone. They were (as they now 
do) to sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel ; but all the 
ransomed of the Lord are made kings and priests unto God, and they shall 
reign forever and ever. And shall we say, when one of them has entered the 
haven of rest, that it is melancholy ? It is so, indeed, in reference to survivors ; 
it is the parting of the closest and most endearing ties which God Himself hath 
appointed. He Himself calls us by such a dispensation to weeping and mourn- 
ing, but we are not to sorrow as those who have no hope. It is one of those 
scenes of tribulation which is calculated to bring sin to remembrance, to tell 
us what an evil and bitter *Ving sin is ; to show us that, though the sinner was 



DEATH OF MR. JOSEPH HARDCASTLE. 573 

the signet on Jehovah's right hand, He would pluck it off. He adopts a child 
of Adam into his family ; He loved him with an everlasting love ; but there was 
about him that bitter thing which God's soul hateth, and He changed his coun- 
tenance and sent him away, apparently in anger, although he was pacified 
towards him for all that he had done. God's Word took hold of him : ' Dust 
thou art, and into dust shalt thou return.' This is very wonderful, but it is the 
consequence of something still more inconceivable and stupendous. The only- 
begotten Son, who was holy as God is holy, appeared in the likeness of sinful 
flesh, as the Head of his body the Church. He had undertaken to restore what 
He took not away. After living years, as a Man of sorrows, in the world which 
He had called into existence, without having anywhere to lay his head, justice, 
in the person of the officers sent to apprehend Him, demanded its victim. He 
instantly responded to the call, adding, 'If ye seek me, let these go away ;' and 
then He underwent that bitter trial which wrung from Him these awful words: 
'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?' The sword had awaked 
against Him who was the fellow of the Almighty, — against Him who thought 
it not robbery to be equal with God, and who, at this time, was at once yielding 
the most humble obedience to his Father's will, and exercising one of the special 
prerogatives of the eternal God. He had received a commandment from his 
Father to lay down his life, and He did it voluntarily. No man took it from 
Him. Well may we say, ' O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and 
knowledge of God ! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past 
rinding out.' In God's dealings with his Church, the principalities and powers 
in heavenly places, see God's manifold wisdom. It is a passage in the history 
of the universe, which they will never tire of perusing ; it is a depth which they 
shall never be able fully to comprehend. 

"The account you give of Alfred's death is very interesting, from its sim- 
plicity. Nothing could be more peaceful and happy and satisfactory. Although 
we may long have had an opportunity of seeing a believer walking humbly with 
God, it is very gratifying to witness his confidence, when grappling with death, 
and, in the confidence of faith, exclaiming: — ' Rejoice not against me, O mine 
enemy. When I fall, I shall rise ; when I walk in darkness, the Lord will be a 
light around me.' . . . 

" Give my kindest love to Emma and the children. May they all be bound 
up in the bundle of life with the Lord ! May they be found written among the 
living in Jerusalem ! They see that the fashion of this world passeth away. 
My kindest love also to Mrs. Alfred. I truly sympathize with her. The Lord 
is the Judge of the widow and the Father of the fatherless. Remember me 
very kindly to Mr. Hardcastle. I am sure he will feel it much. May the Lord 
Himself comfort and sanctify him ! We shall be anxious to hear again. 

" Ever, your most affectionate, 

" J. A. Haldane." 

The death of Mr. Alfred Hardcastle was followed by that of 
his elder brother, who had not been in good health at the time 
the sudden blow had fallen on him by the removal of him to 
whom he had been so devotedly attached. It was on this double 
loss that the next letter was addressed to his daughter-in-law :— 



574 LETTER ON THE DEATH OF FRIENDS. 

" Edinburgh, March 21, 1842. 

" My dearest Emma, — Most sincerely do I sympathize with you on the 
removal of your two very amiable and affectionate brothers. We were in hopes 
that the crisis in regard to Joseph was over, but this morning we received the 
melancholy account of his having followed Alfred. It is exceedingly affecting ; 
but we must say, ' I was dumb ; I opened not my mouth, because thou didst 
it.' Shall we receive good at the hands of God, and not evil ? Yet it is not 
evil. Both your brothers have been removed from this vale of tears, and both 
departed in the faith of Jesus. They had hope in their death, and could look 
beyond the darkness of the tomb into that world of light which is illuminated 
by the beams of the Sun of Righteousness. You shall, it is true, no more be- 
hold them in their houses of clay, but, through the grace of Jesus, you can an- 
ticipate the time when the great Head of the Church shall present it to Himself 
without spot or wrinkle ; when the night of weeping shall have passed ; and 
when uninterrupted joy shall be the everlasting portion of the redeemed. 

" Then, in how different a light shall we regard the sorrows of life ! We 
shall look back upon all the way which the Lord hath led us, and shall see that 
goodness and mercy have followed us all the days of our life ; that all things 
were ours ; that every dispensation of Providence, however afflictive, was a 
stream from the inexhaustible fountain of everlasting love ; and that everything 
which befel us in the days of our pilgrimage was the development of that won- 
drous plan for raising us from the unfathomable depth of sin and misery to an 
exceeding and eternal weight of glory. These are the true sayings of God : 
' Heaven and earth shall pass away, but Christ's words shall not pass away. In 
the world ye shall have tribulation ; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the 
world.' And so complete is his victory, that the troubles of life and the mould- 
ering of our mortal bodies in the dust are the means employed by Him who is 
wonderful in counsel and excellent in working, to introduce us to the enjoy- 
ment of eternal happiness. It must be a great satisfaction to you that you were 
so much with your brother Joseph in his last illness ; that you had an oppor- 
tunity of soothing him in his dying moments ; and that you heard him profess 
his faith in the grace and power of the surety of the everlasting covenant. 

" I received Annie's beautiful letter, giving an account of her uncle Alfred's 
death. It was, at the same time, indeed, very triumphant and perfectly calm. 
There may be, and often is, a great deal of excitement in the last scene, but in 
his removal everything appeared in keeping — solemn, and perfectly placid. 
. . . I sometimes think there is more resignation among the poor than among 
those who are in better worldly circumstances. It is a common expression 
with them, ' It was to be.' No doubt this may be abused, and may be alleged as 
an apology for our neglecting the means which were placed in our power; but 
when the will of God is declared by the event,- it is our wisdom to acquiesce 
and to say : * Thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee." 

The next was addressed to his grand-daughter, now Mrs. John 
Corsbie : — 

"My dearest Annie, — I would have sooner replied to your very interesting 
letter, had I not been much engaged. The scene yon witnessed in your uncle 



LETTER ON THE BIRTH OF A GRANDSON. 575 

Alfred's departure, was, indeed, very striking and much calculated to confirm 
your faith. The Lord there showed you the extent of the triumph which He 
has achieved in behalf of his people, not by averting the stroke of death, — not by 
preventing the return of the spirit to Him who gave it, but by transforming 
the last enemy into a messenger of peace and making the grave the portal of 
immortality. When Jesus had finished the work which He had undertaken, 
He dismissed his spirit. He died, was buried, and rose again, and He in this, 
as in other things, is the pattern of his people. ... It is a beautiful passage 
in the book of Job, where he inquires, 'If a man die, shall he live again?' 
Certainly. And hence he adds, ' All the days of my appointed time will I wait 
till my change come.' This is not the change produced by the separation of 
the soul and body ; it is the change of this mortal body for the spiritual and 
incorruptible body. This is evident from what follows: ' Thou wilt call, and I 
will answer thee ; thou wilt have respect to the work of thine hands ; thou 
turnest man to destruction and sayest, Come again, ye children of men.' Our 
bodies, so fearfully and so wonderfully made, are broken in pieces like a pot- 
ter's vessel ; but in that day God will have respect to the work of his hands. 
He had reduced it to its original dust, but it had been redeemed by the blood 
of Jesus; it had been the habitation of God through the Spirit, and shall 
therefore be re-constructed in a form from which every seed of weakness, cor- 
ruption, and mortality, shall be removed. And how is it calculated to confirm 
our faith, to witness one of Christ's blood-bought sheep amidst the swellings 
of Jordan, delivering himself up with calmness and composure into the hand 
of the king of terrors, and confidently anticipating the day when Satan shall 
be bruised under his feet, when death shall be swallowed up in victory. Such 
was the scene you were so lately called to witness, and I trust you have derived 
much benefit from it. It has practically shown you how the fashion of this 
world passeth away ; that you have no abiding here, but are merely a pilgrim 
and a stranger. . . . May the Lord himself bless you !" 

It was not long after these mournful letters were written that 
the birth of a grandson, uniting his own and his brother's names, 
drew from Mr. J. A. Haldane the expressions of congratulation 
and thankfulness. Every event, whether clouded by sorrow or 
brightened with joy, was, in his mind, always associated with 
the better country : — 

" My dearest Alexander, — Most sincerely do I congratulate you and unite 
with you in giving thanks to the Lord for his great kindness to Emma and 
yourself in the birth of your son. It is my prayer that he may be spared for 
a blessing to you both ; and that his name may be found written among the 
living in Jerusalem ; that the Lord may guide him by his counsel, and after- 
wards receive him to his glory !" 

The following letter was written from Dollar, in the Ochill 
Hills, where he spent two months, in the autumn of 1846, and 
frequently preached in the Free Churches : — 



576 RECOLLECTIONS OF HIS EARLY CHILDHOOD. 

" My dearest Emma, — ... I do not wonder that you should have felt 
much in the prospect of leaving Hatcham, with which every circumstance of 
your past life is so closely interwoven ; but, through the kindness of God, you 
have learnt you are a stranger and pilgrim here, and that your citizenship is in 
heaven, whither our Lord has gone to prepare mansions for his people. But, 
although absent and invisible to eyes of flesh, He is not far from us; and, al- 
though we have not literally the cloud and fire to guide us by day and night, 
He keeps the feet of his saints, leading them in the right way, and will bring 
us to the city of habitation, when all tears will be wiped from our eyes and we 
shall enjoy the fulness of that rest which remains for the people of God. This 
is calculated to support the mind in every situation ; but it is delightful to ob- 
serve how the Lord smooths the road by which He is leading us, thus encour- 
aging us to place the most unlimited confidence in his compassionate guidance. 
You do well to notice the goodness of the Lord, even in the smallest matters, 
and to receive every proof of his tenderness as a pledge that in every situation 
his eye will be upon you and his grace sufficient for you. It is my daily prayer 
that the Lord may be with you and yours ; and, although you never can forget 
Hatcham, yet, considering the changes that have taken place, and the still 
greater changes that are in contemplation, so far as the locality is concerned, I 
doubt not you will see that the Lord, in fixing the bounds of your new habita- 
tion in Essex, has been providing for your comfort. The house in which I 
lived at Dundee with my mother, and where I continued after her death till I 
was nine years of age, has been pulled down many years ago, but I perfectly 
recollect every corner of it ; and I may say the same of the house in place of 
which the splendid mansion of Camperdown has arisen. 

" The cloud which so long stood over Hatcham is now taken up, and you 
are called to follow it in faith that it is good for you to remove. Many dear 
friends have finished their course there, but your consolation is, that all the ran- 
somed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion, with everlasting joy upon 
their heads ; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall 
flee away. We had a very short, but very pleasant visit from Alexina, with 
Mrs. N. Hardcastle and her son and daughter. Edmund spent two or three 
days with us here, and seemed to enjoy the mountain scenery. I suppose he 
is gone on his way to India. May the Lord meet him there, and manifest Him- 
self to him as he does not to the world ! Mrs. Haldane and all here unite in 
kindest love to you and yours. I am happy to hear that your son is so well 
and promising. May God be his portion ! 

" Most affectionately yours, 

" J. A. Haldane." 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

[1848—1851.] 

It is not given to many to climb the heights of four-score 
years. To still fewer is reserved the privilege to attain that alti- 
tude with an eye undimmed and an intellect unclouded. To the 
very last Mr. J. A. Haldane was enabled to persevere in the 
cause to which he had dedicated his strength, and the cessation 
of his evening sermons on the Lord's-day was the only token 
that he felt his natural force at all abated. Even that was owing 
to prudential motives and the entreaties of his family not to ex- 
pose himself, especially when heated by speaking, to the night 
air. In a letter wcitten with reference to this subject, when in 
his eightieth year, he says : — 

"December 9, 1847. 

" My dearest Alexander, — I received your very kind letter, but could not 
help smiling at part of it. Had a stranger seen it he would have concluded 
that I was so reckless and so much disposed to go out at night that I had 
brought on some very uncommon disease, whereas, in fact, I have had rather a 
slight attack of influenza, which few have escaped, and on account of which 
several classes of the College and the High School and other public schools 
have been shut up. The good health which I enjoy is an evidence that the 
plan I pursue is not an unwise one. Your uncle and I acted in an entirely 
different way in regard to our health, and both acted on principle. He was, in 
some respects, as I judged, over-careful of himself, avoiding every draft of air 
so much as to render himself more susceptible of cold ; while avoiding un- 
necessary exposure, I was satisfied to let things take their course, by which I 
believe I have been a gainer. I have not yet been out, but I am quite well, with 
the exception of a cough, to which I am not subject, but which I hope and 
think will soon be removed. I have by no means put myself upon the lowering 
system, for I was afraid it might have brought on gout." 

A few months afterwards he again wrote as follows : — 

"Edinburgh, July 17, 1848." 
" My dearest Emma, — Many thanks for your very kind letter, written on my 

37 



578 PUBLIC FASTS. 

birth-day, when I entered my eighty-first year. I have great cause of gratitude 
to the Lord for the enjoyment of so good health at such an advanced age. I 
cannot adopt the language of Caleb, Joshua xiv. 1 1, and still less that of Bar- 
zillai, 2 Sam. xix. 35. In regard to preaching, I do not feel any perceptible 
difference, but the earthly tabernacle must be dissolved. We must have fellow- 
ship with Christ in his death, that we may attain to the resurrection of the 
dead. . . . 

" Give my kindest love to all your children by name. I daily make mention 
of your name and theirs to the Lord, and we know he is the hearer of prayer. 
I hope Anne has got quite strong, and that she and her husband and Mrs. Cors- 
bie are all in good health. I am glad to hear your little Henrietta is doing so 
well. " Ever most affectionately yours, 

"J. A. Haldane." 

His observations with reference to the Fast-day which was 
observed in the previous month of March, are worth recording. 
Whilst his principles led him to disapprove of the union between 
the Church and the State, he greatly deprecated those opinions 
which led certain of the Voluntaries to act and speak as if rulers 
in their political capacity ought to ignore the worship of the Most 
High God:— 

" The fast- day was kept yesterday. We met twice, and I preached in thf 
afternoon. In reference to those who object to the proclamation of a fast by 
Royal authority, I showed that had the Ninevites acted on the same principle 
Nineveh would have been destroyed. Again, there was the case of Jonah, when 
the master of the ship called him, and desired him to cry unto his God, he might 
have replied, ' Am I, the prophet Jonah, to be schooled by an idolater, and is he 
to dictate to me as to my prayers?' He was hardened through the deceitfulness 
of sin, but not to so great an extent as to utter such language. He had declineu 
carrying the Lord's message to Nineveh, and now he was compelled to deliver 
one against himself, and perhaps his doing so was an evidence of his repentance 
for his previous conduct. I stated that I had little doubt that the manner in 
which the day was observed through the country would decide whether the 
judgment in the nation should be alleviated or increased. Some of the sects 
here did not meet, but I suppose in general it was externally pretty well ob- 
served." — "Dr. Alexander's Church met, and I understand that the Provost 
(Mr. Adam Black), who is one of his deacons, prayed." 

On the subject of fasting, it is right to mention, that it was a 
duty to which he attended, not merely on public, but private 
occasions. He was habitually a man of prayer, and as fasting is 
in Scripture associated with prayer, so when there was any subject 
on which he peculiarly desired to seek counsel of the Lord, he 
was accustomed to set apart a day for the special purpose of 
humbling himself, and making known his requests on behalf of 
himself, his family, or the Church. In the summer of 1847, he 



MR, BURDON SANDERSON. 579 

took the house of La Mancha, in Selkirkshire, about sixteen miles 
from Edinburgh. It was a thinly-peopled and wild, but healthful, 
part of the country, having somewhat of the character of Auchin- 
gray, to which he had been accustomed to pay an annual visit 
with his family during his brother's lifetime. La Mancha was 
four miles from any place of worship ; he therefore preached twice 
every Lord's-day, as well as on other occasions, to good congre- 
gations. His labors were highly prized by the country people, 
and, it is believed, were much blessed. Indeed, his visit to their 
neighborhood was most acceptable, and he received very grati- 
fying tokens of personal regard. In his letter announcing his 
arrival at La Mancha, he writes : — 

" We came here yesterday. It is an old house, but large and convenient. 
There is a wide mahogany staircase, with very good rooms. There are a num- 
ber of fine trees, and plenty of space for the boys to play. I hope you will pay 
us a visit soon. I was very happy to hear by your letter yesterday, that J. Al- 
fred Hardcastle has been successful in his election. I have no doubt that he 
was much indebted to the name and character of his grandfather, who was a 
most amiable and superior man, and whose character was so generally known. 
Selina's letter by the same post as yours, gave us a fuller account of what took 
place at the chairing." 

The beginning of 1848 was gladdened by the marriage of Isa- 
bella, the eldest of his three daughters by his second wife, to 
Eichard Burdon Sanderson, Esq., the younger, of West Jesmond, 
near Newcastle. His father was the only surviving son of the 
late Sir Thomas Burdon, by Jane Scott, the youngest sister of 
Lords Eldon and Stowell. Mr. Burdon, who afterwards assumed 
his wife's name of Sanderson, having been a Fellow of Oriel, it is 
scarcely needful to say that he ran a distinguished course at Ox- 
ford. As an undergraduate he was the successful competitor for 
the Newdigate in 1811, whilst in the list of annual prizes given 
for English Composition, he stands, as in the year 1814, between 
Mr. Justice Coleridge and the late Dr. Arnold, of !Rugby. He 
was designed for the bar, and his uncles confidently anticipated 
that so brilliant a commencement was to be followed up by a 
career worthy of their own great legal renown. The ferment of 
religious excitement which then began at Oxford was the com- 
mencement of two very different schools of theology, the one 
rather tending to German, and the other to Komish error. At 
the head of the former may be placed Archbishop Whately, 
Bishop Hampden, and Dr. Arnold ; and at the head of the latter, 



580 MR. BURDON SANDERSON. 

Messrs Keble, Rose, Pusey, and Newman. It was at this period 
of spiritual agitation that Mr. Burdon was led to discern the ex- 
cellence of the knowledge of Christ, and to distinguish between 
the dry formalities of the old High Church system, and the living- 
energy of spiritual religion. It may be permitted to some of his 
friends to regret that he did not persevere in the profession in 
which Lord Eldon predicted his eminence, or adopt the resolu- 
tion of taking orders in the Church, but the post to which he was 
immediately appointed, as Secretary of Presentations to the Lord 
Chancellor, gave him such a view of the abuse of patronage in the 
Establishment for political objects, as unhappily led to the resig- 
nation of his office, his prospects, and his churchmanship. Re- 
tiring to the country, he adopted a life of comparative isolation, 
but one which enabled him to carry out his own ideas of the 
spiritual nature of the kingdom of Christ. These views may not 
unfairly be traced to the lessons derived partly from his tutor, 
Archbishop Whately, and partly from the still more defined anti- 
State Church notions of the embryo Tractarians of Oriel. A visit 
made by Mr. and Mrs. Burdon Sanderson to Edinburgh, at the 
close of 1847, issued in the marriage of their eldest son, to whom 
Mr. J. A. Haldane became much attached, and of whose "sterling 
worth" and true godliness he entertained a high estimate. Tho 
following letter was written shortly afterwards : — 

"Edinburgh, February 21, 1848. 

"My dearest Emma, — Your very kind letter reached me the day before we 
left Jesmond. We arrived at home on Friday, after a very pleasant visit. We 
have much cause to be thankful that Isabella is so comfortably situated, and 
has become connected with a family in which the power of religion is more 
manifested than in most which I have witnessed. They have two chapels: one 
in Newcastle, and the other between Jesmond and the town. The father and 
son preach twice in the former on the Lord's-day, and in the other on Thursday 
evening. There are large schools connected with each chapel. That Mr. San- 
derson should be a scholar, considering that he was a first-classman at Oxford, 
is not surprising, but I was much astonished to find that his house, which is very 
beautiful, in the Gothic style, was planned and built without any architect or 
estimate, but entirely by days' wages, under his own direction. The only 
assistance he had was a visit from a person in the neighborhood, on two occa- 
sions, in reference to the working plan. This greatly surprised me, and I asked 
him how he had acquired so much knowledge of architecture. He told me he 
wrote a poem, which carried the prize, upon the temple of Minerva at Athens, 
the Parthenon, when he found it necessary to study the Grecian architecture, 
which afterwards induced him to study the Gothic. The house is very hand- 
some, and very convenient. . . . Ever yours most affectionately, 

" To Mrs. A. Haldane. J. A. Haldane." 



VISIT TO LONDON — WOOLWICH. 581 

Immediately after his return home he was attacked with gout, 
which was partly attributed to over-exertion in preaching in 
Newcastle and the neighborhood. But at Easter he was well 
enough to pay a visit to his eldest son", near London, accompanied 
by Mrs. Haldane and their youngest boy. It was his last journey 
to the great Metropolis, but the interest with which he visited the 
places associated with the recollections of his youth, and observed 
the changes produced by time and modern improvements, indi- 
cated the freshness of his feelings. As a proof of his remaining 
physical vigor and self-reliance, it may be mentioned that on the 
first day after his arrival, he walked alone, by a road before un- 
known to him, nearly five miles to the river side, and having 
hired a small boat, crossed over to Woolwich. He proceeded up 
the Thames by a steamer, as usual enjoying the sight of Greenwich 
Hospital, with its beautiful park in the background, and the ship- 
ping in the docks and in the pool. From London Bridge he 
walked through the crowded streets to the Shoreditch terminus 
of the railway, but being too late for the train, proceeded to one 
of the cab-stands at the outskirts of the city, and reached home 
to dinner. He had left the house without any specific design 
whilst the part}' were at luncheon, and although as the Hours 
passed on many wistful looks had been directed towards the 
entrance-gate, and an inquiring welcome greeted his arrival, his 
own manly, yet not unconscious glance seemed at once to admit 
that there might have been some cause for solicitude, and at the 
same time playfully to disclaim its necessity on his account. 

It was during this visit, that, on two successive Lord's-days, he 
preached in the Scotch Church at Woolwich. A sergeant who 
heard him on the first Lord's-day, was, dnnng the week, marched 
to Windsor, but such was his anxiety once more to listen to the 
same blessed truth, that, on being relieved from guard, very early 
on the next Lord's-day morning, he obtained leave to return to 
Woolwich, where he arrived in time, after his fatiguing walk. 
Mr. J. A. Haldane was himself both interested and roused by his 
audience, and we have heard that the "word was with power." 
It was a striking spectacle to witness such a congregation of sol- 
diers and marines, of all uniforms, each listening with fixed atten- 
tion, as the octogenarian preacher earnestly and impressively urged 
on them the promises of a free Gospel, with all the fire and energy 
of his youth, only mellowed by the pathos and gentleness of age. 

During the summer of 1848, Mr. J. Haldane took a house in 



582 DEATH OF MAJOR GORDON. 

the parish of Tranent, not far from the field which has acquired 
so much of historical renown as the scene of the victory of the 
Pretender, in 1745, and the spot on which the gallant Colonel 
Gardner fell, near his own mansion, and died like a Christian 
hero, rallying the Royal forces, and refusing to retreat with his 
panic-stricken dragoons. 

The Indian mail, of February, 1849, conveyed the melancholy 
intelligence of the death of Major John Gordon, eldest son of Mrs. 
Haldane Gordon, who fell on the 27th of the previous month of 
December, at the storming of Mooltan. When the siege of that 
great fortress first commenced, Major Gordon was with his regi- 
ment, the 60th Rifles, near Bombay, and before it was ordered to 
move he volunteered, with another officer, to ascend the Indus, 
to reconnoitre the line of march and obtain personal information 
as to the best method of moving the troops. His mission was 
discharged with equal zeal and judgment, and he, in September, 
assisted, with marked approbation, at the operations before Mool- 
tan, which were attended with so much loss, and were ultimately 
suspended in consequence of the defection of Shere Singh. He 
rejoined his regiment, and assisted in the successful march to Mool- 
tan. The arrival of the Bombay troops, at the end of December, 
was the signal for the assault, and two days before he fell, an en- 
try in his journal, made after attending Divine service with the 
troops, indicates the solemnized feeling, with which he thought 
of the possible nearness of the eternal world. His death was 
almost instantaneous. He was at the head of his men, conducting 
them over some broken ground, within reach of the enemy's 
marksmen, and being mounted on a white Arab charger, his dark 
uniform rendered his dagger especially imminent. The Adjutant 
of the Rifles advanced towards him, and kindly begged him to 
dismount, but he declined, observing, with characteristic calmness, 
"I am in my place." Scarcely had he spoken when a bullet 
pierced his sword-belt, and he fell into the arms of his friend. It 
was a crushing blow to his afflicted mother, although the event 
was not without its consolations, as will appear from the following 
letter, written by her, in a spirit of Christian resignation, not long 
after the sad intelligence arrived :- 

" Cadlington, February 20, 1 849. - 
"My dear Cousin, — I feel deeply sensible of your great kindness and sym- 
pathy in our great affliction. You knew my beloved John, and could estimate 
him, and the irreparable loss we have sustained: but, in endeavoring to view it 



VISIT OF REV. JAMES GORDON. 583 

in the prospect of eternity, there is light, even in this dark cloud. J feci assured 
confidence that, in that sudden and awful moment, his spirit was received by the 
blessed Saviour — that the many prayers of those beloved parents, who are now 
inheriting the promises of God, were answered; and tha* there had been a 
preparation of heart and mind, that led him to acknowledge the sovereignty of 
God in every event; and constrained him to seek frf happiness in that source 
where alone it can be truly found. 

■ Latterly these sentiments have been again *nd again expressed. In his last 
letter, of the 18th of October, before reaching Mooltan, he says, . . . These 
few lines will be interesting to you, I fe<*' sure. I believe that the change has 
been infinite gain to him, but as yet I can hardly realize more than our great, 
great loss. May this trial be ind^d sanctified to me, and to his brother and 
sisters, and be made to answer the end for which it has been sent. 

"Accept my sincere and tannest thanks for all your kindness to him in the 
days that are past, whick VVfl6 no£ f° r £ otten by him, nor can it be so by me. I 
had a most kind le-'i-er from my dear uncle this morning. There have been 
many alleviating n'rcmnstances, and it is soothing to know that he was esteem- 
ed and belovei in *is regiment and by his friends ; that it was in the discharge 
of his dutv he fell, and though no human aid could help, he was cared for by 
his brother oncers, and his memory beloved and valued. I feel thankful for 
these. My affectionate remembrances to Mrs. Haldane, and each one of your 
family. Accept the same, and believe me to be your affectionate cousin, 

"M. Haldane Gordon. 

"Alexander Haldane, Esq." 

i'he bereaved mother did not long survive the shock. Her 
health had been drooping for some time, and she died somewhat 
suddenly, on the 29th day of September, 1849. Her remains re- 
pose in the beautiful churchyard of Blendvvorth, in Hampshire, 
and her ransomed spirit having escaped all "the waves of this 
troublesome life," has, doubtless, joined the general assembly of 
the spirits of the just before the throne, joyfully awaiting the 
resurrection of the body, and the second appearing of the Lord 
from Heaven. 

Not long afterwards a visit of her only surviving son, the Eev. 
James Gordon, himself a partaker of like precious faith, a cler- 
gyman in the Church of England, was mentioned with much 
satisfaction in the letters of his grand-uncle. Of this meeting Mr. 
Gordon himself thus writes: — 

" I was very glad to see your father, and quite as well, or better, than I ex- 
pected. Independent of relationship and association, there is something pecu- 
liarly interesting, I may say affecting, in looking upon one who has so nearly 
fought the good fight, so nearly finished the course, and hearing the sound of 
a voice, which will so soon be tuned for the harmony of heaven. Christian 
maturity is very beautiful; softening and mellowing humanity. I felt all this, 



*>84 BRIGADIER ECKFORD C.B. 

and much more, in talking to your father; and the interest he took in all 1 
could tell of poor John, and my dear mother, was most gratifying. I rejoiced 
to have the pleasure of shaking hands once more, and in feeling that another 
tie than formerly bound us to each other,— the aged servant of Christ to the 
young disciple. But 1 will not dwell on this." 

Mr. J. A. Haldane had many family ties in India. His daugh- 
ters, Mary and Catherine, we re both residing with their husbands 
in that eastern province of the British Empire. The death of 
Major Gordon was calculated to increase anxiety for those who 
were exposed to the same danger^ and many were the prayers 
which were offered up on behalf of r^ husband of his daughter 
Mary, and their eldest son, who had also entered on the same career 
as his father. Since the period of his marr'^o-e in 1824 Colonel 
Eckford had been engaged at the storming of BVurtpore and had 
served with distinction as brigadier in the successive campaigns 
for the rescue of the prisoners in Afghanistan, foi the repulse of 
the invasion of the Sikhs, and, finally, for the subjugation of the 
revolt in the Punjaub. After the passage of the Eavee, and the 
battles of Eamnuggar and So wda wallah, in the latter o£ which ke 
was much exposed, he had very reluctantly gone to take 'the com- 
mand of Lahore, menaced as it was by the Sikhs, but it wak thus 
that he escaped being present at the fruitless slaughter of Chi- 
lian wallah. Of this occurrence Mr. J. A. Haldane writes : — 

" It is indeed a great cause of thankfulness that Eckford was at Lahore. I 
am glad to hear the testimony of Lord Gough, as well as of Lord Hardinge, to 
his services. His medals and the Companionship of the Bath are, in themselves, 
of no great importance; but they maybe an advantage to his children, and 
therefore I would not undervalue them. He held very responsible command?, 
both in the last Sikh war and the present. The charge of the battering-train 
and the treasure, which he brought up from Delhi to Sobraon, was very im- 
portant, and he executed it most satisfactorily. He was nominally under Sir 
John Littler, at Lahore, but I suppose the charge chiefly devolved on him, for 
ihe General was a considerable time absent, and he seems to have acted with 
great gallantry and judgment in the late campaign. I trust the Lord will hear 
our prayers in his behalf, and bring him safely home, and spare him for the 
*ake of his children." 

These prayers were heard, and Colonel Eckford and his wife 
both returned home in time to receive the blessing and the wel- 
come of theii venerable parent. Mr. J. A. Haldane was always 
pleased to learn that any one in whom he was interested dis- 
charged his duty, but in Colonel Eckford he had the double 
.'.■ratification of hearing of his manly and consistent walk as a 



*MU. J. HALDANE'S JUBILEE. 585 

soldier of Christ. Wherever he was in authority, Divine service 
was publicly performed, and a sermon read on the Lord's-day, 
whether at Jellalabad, at Lahore, at Bareilly, or at Ferozepore ; 
and where there was no chaplain, he himself read the prayers 
and a sermon, a duty for the performance of which, lie received 
the personal sanction of his friend, the Bishop of Calcutta. 

On the 3d of February, 1849, Mr. Haldane completed the 
fiftieth year of his pastoral office, and a wish very generally pre- 
vailed that the event should be celebrated in such a way as to 
indicate the respect in which he was held, not only by his own 
Church but by the Congregationalists generally. This was very 
gratifying to him, and accordingly the Jubilee Meeting was held 
on the 12th of April. His old and valued friend, the Kev. Dr. 
Innes, whom he had first known as minister of Stirling, presided, 
and opened the meeting by a reference to the labors and services 
both of Mr. James Haldane and his departed brother. Of the 
latter he said, — 

" When I look to the extensive scale on which Mr. Haldane carried on his 
plans of usefulness, the number of preachers he educated, the important situ- 
ations in which some of these have been placed, while others have been equally 
devoted in a more limited sphere ; . . . when to these I add the numerous 
places of worship built by him in different parts of the country, I say, putting 
all these hinges together, if I were asked to name the individual who has, during 
the last half-century (nay, I might go further back) done most for the cause 
of the Gospel, I would without hesitation pronounce the name of Robert Hal- 
dane." 

The Rev. Christopher Anderson, who has but lately entered 
into rest, gave a most striking account of the spirit which per- 
vaded the great movement at the end of the last century and the 
beginning of the present, and which issued in a religious revival 
in Scotland, so striking and enduring. The Rev. Mr. Kinni- 
burgh-, who has also since departed, spoke of the remarkable 
awakening which took place in the north of Scotland, and allu- 
ded V) the late Rev. Mr. Cleghorn's account of the preaching in 
Caithness as contained in the " Missionary Magazine" for 1803. 
Mr. Cleghorn says : — " Mr. Haldane's congregations on week- 
days, though in the time of harvest, were numerous, but on the 
Lord's-day such congregations were never seen in this place. 
Many have spoken to me of the effects of the Word on this occa- 
sion, but they have always wanted words to express their views 
of them. Some have compared its operation to that of an electric 



586 JUBILEE. 

shock. A solemn silence pervaded the multitude. Many were 
seen to shed tears, and when some truths were expressed, sighs 
were heard throughout the congregation. Some have told me 
there was an astonishing authority, and a sort of indescribable 
evidence attending the Word, which they could not resist. The 
Word of God on this occasion was truly quick and powerful. I 
have been informed by others that they heard Mr. James Hal- 
dane as if he had been a messenger sent immediately from God, 
and thought that what they heard was addressed to them indi- 
vidually, and that they were sometimes afraid lest their very 
names should be mentioned. In short, the attention of almost 
every one was drawn to what they called this Gospel. It was in- 
deed new to most who heard it, both as to the matter and the 
manner of delivering it. So generally was the attention of people 
drawn to it that you could hardly find two conversing together 
but religion was the subject." 

Mr. Watson also gave an interesting detail of his reminiscences 
of the preaching in Ayrshire, and Mr. J. A. Haldane himself 
spoke with his usual manly simplicity, in a manner which evinced 
the spirit of faith and love and zeal which animated his exertions. 
The Kev. Dr. Lindsay Alexander's speech was delivered with 
his usual eloquence, whilst the clergyman of the parish where 
Mr. Haldane's place of worship was situated, and other ministers, 
took part in the proceedings. It was a pleasant sight to witness 
a kind of Evangelical Union of Baptists and Independents, Free 
Churchmen and ministers of the Establishment, all assembled to 
give thanks to God for that Christian devotedness with which 
Mr. J. A. Haldane had been through grace enabled, for nearly 
fifty- two years, to labor with consistent zeal in the service of their 
Lord and Master. The place was crowded to the door, and hun- 
dreds went away for want of room. There was one sentiment 
which Mr. J. A. Haldane expressed at the meeting, which m sub- 
stance has been already alluded to : — 

" I feel much satisfaction in the consideration, that although I began to 
preach shortly after being brought to Christ, I do riot know one point in which 
my views of the doctrines of the Gospel have varied. They are, of course, 
more matured and more distinct, but I could not point out an instance of a 
change in doctrine since I first began to preach." 

Not many months after the Jubilee Meeting he had another 
attack of gout, which was at one time very threatening. The 
following letter was written when he began to recover : — 



WINTERFIELD. 587 

" Edinburgh, August 4, ] 849. 
" Mt dearest Alexander, — I am much better, but very weak. I never 
bad so bad an attack of gout, but am better. It was attended with a consider- 
able degree of fever. We have taken Winterfield House, near Dunbar, for 
two months, and intend going out on Tuesday. I received Emma's kind let- 
ter, but at present am unable to answer it. We heard that you were going 
to Tunbridge for change of air. Your sister Henrietta is gone to Cavers, and 
Margaret to Naughton. I am weak, and not able to write more. I have not 
preached for several weeks. The Lord may be pleased to bless the change of 
air for my recovery ; but with long life has He satisfied me, and I am ready to 
depart when He sees fit. Kindest love, in which my wife unites, to Emma 
and all at the Manor. May the Lord's blessing rest upon you ! 

" Ever most affectionately yours, 

" J. A. Haldane." 

Winterfield was the paternal mansion of the family of his 
friend Colonel Anderson, and then in the possession of his late 
elder brother. The following letter is addressed to the Colonel: — 

"Winterfield, Sept. 1, 1849. 

" My dear Sir, — I do not know if you are aware that we are at present 
occupying your paternal halls. We came here at the beginning of last month, 
and intend to remain till the end of September. I need not tell you it is a very 
pleasant habitation, and it is very convenient from being so near Edinburgh, 
say an hour by rail. 

" I often think of the two Lord's-days we spent with you at Woolwich, and 
the very interesting congregations of young soldiers. . . . The more we 
understand the Gospel, the more clearly do we see its adaptation to our cir- 
cumstances, at once excluding boasting, and enabling us to joy in God through 
Jesus Christ, by whom we have also received the atonement. We are exalted 
in Christ's righteousness. We are dead. Not only did sentence pass upon us 
in Adam, but the children of the second Adam endured the penalty in their 
glorious Head. The constitution which God gave to the human race had a 
reference to the plan of salvation. We were not created separately, but in 
Adam, who was the figure of Him that was to come. The life of all his pos- 
terity was committed to him and he forfeited it ; but Christ came that in Him 
his people might have life, and have it more abundantly. As the death of 
Adam was the death-knell of all his posterity, so the resurrection of Christ is 
the assured pledge of the resurrection to eternal life of all His people. We 
look to Him who exclaimed upon the cross, 'My God, my God, why hast thou 
forsaken me?' thus proclaiming that He was for us enduring the curse of 
the law ; and shortly we hear him say, ' I ascend unto my Father and your 
Father, to my God and your God.' We are commanded to comfort one 
another with these words. Considered in ourselves, we are alienated from 
the life of God, through the darkness and ignorance that is in us; but in 
Christ we are washed, and sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord 
Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. We were at first created in the image 
of God, but by the disobedience of our first father we lost that image; but it 



588 ROMAINE'S LETTEES. 

is restored in Christ, and His appearance for us at the right hand of God gives 
us the assurance of the enjoyment of every spiritual and heavenly blessing. 
May you continue to enjoy much of the consolation that is in Christ, and con- 
tinue, to be eminently useful in the important sphere in which the Lord has 
placed you ! My wife unites in kindest love to Mrs. Anderson and all your 
family. May you and she dwell in the secret place of the Most High, under 
the shadow of the wings of the Almighty ! Let us pray for each other, and 
believe me ever, my dear Sir, 

" Yours affectionately in Jesus Christ, 

" J. A. Haldane." 

During the time of his residence at Winterfield he had an at- 
tack of faintness after walking, which he evidently deemed threat- 
ening, and he calmly said to his wife and children, who were 
gathered round him, " It is all well." He revived, however, and 
had no other serious attack of illness till the last, nearly eighteen 
months afterwards. 

His vigor was to a considerable extent restored, and, after his 
return to Edinburgh, he resumed his ministerial duties with all 
his accustomed energy. At the beginning of 1850 he sent to his 
daughter-in-law near London a copy of " Eomaine's Letters," as 
a new-year's gift. He valued them much, and during the last 
year of his life used frequently in the evening, and especially on 
the Lord's day, to recline by the fire-side after preaching, and 
listen with pleasure as they were read aloud by his daughter Mar- 
garet, whilst his eldest daughter Henrietta was visiting the Green- 
side School, which she has so long and successfully superintended. 
Of "Eomaine's Letters" he thus writes: — 

" The fulness and freeness of the great salvation are there very beautifully 
set forth. Probably you know the same author's ' Life, Walk, and Triumph of 
Faith.' But the best and simplest book on religion is the Bible. I believe I 
read more of it than of any other book. The truth it contains is always new. 
I trust you say with the prophet, ' Thy word was found of me, and I did eat it, 
and it was the joy and rejoicing of my heart.' 

" I mentioned that I was lecturing on the Hebrews. I have got to the sev- 
enth chapter, and have written out my exposition nearly to the end of chapter 
ix. When I have finished I intend to begin again, and re-write my exposition of 
the epistle, and, if it then appears desirable, to print it. This is pretty well at 
the age of eighty-two. Most probably, like your uncle, I may never finish it. 
You are aware he began the Epistle. There is one word in it on which I have 
tried to recall what I heard him say, but I cannot. It is the w T ord perfected, which 
frequently occurs. I heard a sermon at Brighton on Heb. v. 9. I thought it a 
very indifferent one, but I still remember with pleasure one from the Rector of 
Bath, from Col. ii. 10, 'Ye are complete in him,' which I enjoyed exceedingly." 



EXPOSITION OF THE HEBREWS. 589 

The sermon, the remembrance of which at the distance of nearly 
ten years he twice recalled with so much pleasure, was preached 
at St. Mary's, Brighton, where, during his visit in 1840, he had 
gone in the expectation of hearing the Rev. H. V. Elliott. It 
happened that the Eev. Wm. Brodrick preached, and it was his 
sermon to which he listened with much delight. Mr. Brodrick's 
conclusion was to this effect : — 

" To the established Christian the comfort which the text contains is not new, 
but as the name of Jesus is as ointment poured out, ever fragrant and re- 
freshing to the believer, so the very renewal of this assurance, as to his being 
complete in Christ, is like a fresh spring of comfort to his soul. To be com- 
plete in Christ in righteousness, in the abolishing of sin, in freedom from guilt, 
in deliverance from condemnation, in reconciliation, in love, — to be thus com- 
plete fully realizes the apostle's declaration concerning Christ, 'To you that be- 
lieve he is precious.' But oh ! what motives to holiness, to self-denial, to devo- 
tion, to separation from the world, to active zeal, to passive resignation ! What 
more can you desire? Nothing for your own comfort, but much for the glory 
of God. I cannot for one conceive anything which makes me so earnestly long 
and strive and pray to glorify our God, as the belief of being complete in Christ. 
It calls forth the most influential motives which can impel the soul, — the motives 
of gratitude and love. ' What can I render to the Lord V is the soul's expres- 
sive language. The soul bears testimony to the full force of that language 
which the spouse uses in speaking of the Saviour, ' Yea, he is altogether lovely.' 
It says, with all its energy, and from its deepest feelings, 'This is my Beloved, 
and this is my Friend. Thou art mine ; — my Saviour, — my Redeemer, — my 
guide in life, — my hope in death. I am complete in Thee now, and yet this is 
not all Thy goodness towards me. I shall be complete in Thee even in eterni- 
ty, for I shall behold Thy presence in righteousness.'" 

Mr. J. A. Haldane lived to complete his " Exposition of the 
Hebrews" in his public ministration, and he had even written it 
out, but it was his design still further to have elaborated it before 
going to the press. His correspondence indicates how much his 
mind was interested in the work, and how clear and acute were 
his perceptions of difficulties. There was a subject on which he 
had occasion to touch, in expounding Heb. xii. 26, and on which 
some division of opinion has subsisted amongst Christians. The 
hope of the second appearing of our Lord was one which ever oc- 
cupied his thoughts, but he rejected the idea of a personal reign 
in this sinful world before the destruction of all that is wicked 
and unholy and the regeneration of the heavens and the earth. 
His views are expressed in a letter of earlier date addressed to his 
second surviving son Eobert : — 

" The great promise of the Old Testament was the coming of Christ in the 



590 LETTER TO LADY STAIR. 

flesh. The promise of the New Testament is his second coming. This will be 
to judge the world and to bruise Satan under the feet of his saints, who shall 
be raised spiritual and incorruptible. When God separated Israel from the na- 
tions at Sinai the earth was shaken, and there was to be another and greater 
shaking. (Heb. xii. 26.) This was to consist in the removing of the things 
which were shaken, that the things which cannot be shaken might remain. 
(Ver. 27.) This took place upon the kingdom being taken from Israel and 
given to the righteous nation (the children of the new covenant). This took 
place at Pentecost, and there is to be no other change. The Gospel dispensa- 
tion remains unchanged. (2 Cor. iii. 2.) Those who maintain that Christ shall 
come to reign on the earth (as it now is), represent a much greater change as 
taking place than the transition from the Law to the Gospel dispensation, and 
this is contrary to the w T ord once more. At all events, your uncle did not hold 
the personal reign of Christ in this world in its present state. Christ will reign 
in the new heaven and new earth, and the earth that now is will flee away 
when he appears. It once did not afford him a place to lay his head, and in 
shame and confusion it will vanish from the presence of his glory." 

In May, 1850, the somewhat sudden death of his cousin, Lady 
Henrietta Fergusson, occasioned the following letter to her sister, 
the Countess of Stair : — 

"Edinburgh, May 31st, 1850. 

" My dear Lady Stair, — I sincerely sympathize with you on this afflicting 
occasion. The suddenness of the stroke renders it more affecting. It is my 
prayer that it may be greatly sanctified to you. It is, indeed, a voice from the 
tomb, loudly saying to us, ' Be ye also ready.' You and your sister have been 
but little separated during your lifetime, and looking back to the happy days 
you spent together is calculated to render parting more distressing. But it is 
frequently better for us to go to the house of mourning than to the house of 
feasting. It reminds us that we must shortly follow, but dark as is the tomb 
the believer in Jesus sees beyond it alight too strong for our feeble vision. It 
is an exceeding, even an eternal weight of glory reserved for him in heaven, 
where God will wipe away all tears from his eyes and put him in full posses- 
sion of the inheritance which his elder brother has made sure to him for an ever- 
lasting possession, where sorrow and sighing shall forever flee away, and there 
shall be no more pain nor separation from those we love. 

" That the Lord, by the power of his spirit, may enable you to look stead- 
fastly within the veil, and behold much of the glory of the great Captain of 
salvation, is my earnest prayer ! May you experience at this season that the 
consolations of God are neither few nor small ! One after another of those we 
loved have been laid in the narrow house, but Jesus says, ' I am the resurrection 
and the life ; he that believeth in me, though he be dead, yet shall he live, and 
he that liveth and believeth in me shall never die.' 

" To the Christian, what we call death is but its shadow. Christ has abol- 
ished death. He has brought life and immortality to light, and his own eternal 
life is the pledge that his people shall die no more. By death he has destroyed 
him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. He has put his foot on the 



DEATH OF REV. G. F. DAWSON. 591 

neck of Satan, and as Joshua caused his officers to trample on the kings of 
Canaan, so will the Lord bruise Satan under the feet of his people shortly. 
" Believe me, my dear Lady Stair, yours most truly, 

" J. A. Haldane." 

The following letter, addressed to one of his grand-daughters, 
refers to an account of a tour through France and Switzerland 
and down the Ehine, in the autumn of 1850 : — 

"Edinburgh, October 3d, 1850. 
"My dearest Emma, — I this morning received your excellent letter. Your 
tour must have been very delightful, and, I trust, will be beneficial to you 
through life. You have seen some of the grandest natural scenes, and the 
more of these stupendous works we behold the more should our views be ex- 
alted of the power of Him who made them all. But although the eternal 
power and Godhead of the great Creator is so manifest in his works, it has not 
prevented mankind from bowing down to the works of their own hands, or 
changing the image of the incorruptible God into an image of corruptible man 
and of birds and four-footed beasts. That wisdom, under the influence of which 
the believer worships God in spirit and in truth, can only be learned by the rev- 
elation of the Son of God. He that hath seen Him hath seen the Father, for 
he is the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of his person, 
and under the new dispensation, believers, beholding in an unveiled face the 
glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image as by the Spirit of the 
Lord. . . . Your letter contains an excellent account of your tour, which 
both you and your brother must have enjoyed very much, and I hope your papa 
and mamma and all will derive great benefit from it. How distressing it is to 
think that so great a part of Europe is still under the power of the Man of Sin ; 
but they have forsaken the Word of God, and what wisdom is in them ! The 
Antichristian idolatry was introduced precisely in the same way as the Pagan 
idolatry, by men not being satisfied with the instructions which God gave them 
in regard to his worship. They added and admitted according to the dictates 
of their own folly, until they buried true religion under a mass of idle cere- 
monies. But the Lord will arise, and have mercy upon Zion ; the time to favor 
her shall come. May the Lord hasten it in his time ! With kindest love to 
your papa and mamma, your sisters and brother, in which your grandmamma 
unites, as well as Henrietta, Margaret, and Helen. Adamina is staying with 
Isabella. I am ever, most affectionately yours, 

" J. A. Haldane." 

In another letter, a few days later, he notices the sudden death 
of the Rev. G. F. Dawson, Yicar of Orpington, whose manly and 
Christian character he had always admired, and in whom he had 
felt warm interest from the period when his faithful remonstrance 
against being compelled to assist in Romish idolatry, at Malta, 
had occasioned his dismissal from the artillery, in which he had 
been an officer. "I am sorry," he says, " to hear of Dawson's 



592 IRISH CHURCH MISSIONS. 

sudden death ; but the death of a believer is no subject of lamen 
tation. ' Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.' " 

The Papal aggression at this time greatly interested his mind. 
and was frequently referred to in his correspondence, as well as 
the progress of the Irish Missions. 

"Popery," he observes, "is not simply a religion; it claims power over all 
baptized, and a right, founded on this usurpation, to punish heretics. On the 
whole, I would not consider them as entitled to the same privileges as those 
who renounce carnal weapons. Those who consider it to be a part of their re- 
ligion to use the sword, ought not to complain if the civil power be employed 
to keep them w 7 ithin proper bounds." 

In another letter, alluding to Lady Olivia B. Sparrow, who 
was then in Edinburgh, and whose zeal for the cause of Christian 
Protestantism he repeatedly mentions, and particularly with 
reference to her early and munificent support of the Irish Church 
Missions, he thus writes : — 

"Edinburgh, Nov. 15, 1850. 

" I saw Lady Olivia yesterday ; she is very kind and uncommonly agreea- 
ble. Her whole heart appears to be fixed on the promotion of the Gospel of 
Christ. : . . 

" The outcry raised about the Pope, in which I fully sympathize, will. I trust, 
do good. I hope one effect of it will be to lead ministers to put the Irish Gov- 
ernment schools on a different footing, so as not to exclude from them the 
Evangelical clergy. Let schools remain for Roman Catholics, but do not ex- 
clude from the benefit of Government education those who will not banish the 
Scriptures from their teaching. We were with Lady Olivia when your letter 
arrived, stating what the Queen is reported to have said to Lord John Russell. 
She was greatly delighted by the information. The Lord reigns, and He is do- 
ing all his pleasure. We may tremble for ike ark, but it is as safe in the land of 
the Philistines as at Shiloh. This is no reason for inactivity, but it is for calm- 
ness." 

For some months he had enjoyed excellent health. He looked 
well, and had been able to preach with much vigor, both at home, 
and in the neighborhood of Newcastle, during the summer and 
autumn of 1850. He continued to visit the sick, and on the Sat- 
urdays he was still able to take his favorite walk to Gran ton pier, 
to see the London and other steamers preparing to sail. But the 
time of his departure was drawing near, and the tone of his cor- 
respondence, as well as of his preaching, indicated that he was 
more and more impressed with a sense of the littleness of time. 
and the magnitude of eternity. With reference to a proposal 
made for his son, Dr. D. Rutherford Haldane, to travel for a year 
on the Continent, as physician to a relative, he thus wrote : — 



JOYFUL ANTICIPATIONS. 593 

"I trust the Lord will direct in this. His mother and I have made it a subject 
of prayer, and I doubt not the Lord has heard us, and will take the matter into 
his own management. It is much that the High and Lofty One who inhabiteth 
eternity should vouchsafe to interfere in our behalf on any subject, but when 
we read of the condescension of Jesus, in whom all the fulness of the God- 
head dwelleth bodily, we are emboldened to ask much, and to expect much, 
trusting in Omnipotence." 

Such, was the spirit which animated his cheerful and active 
piety. No gloomy foreboding as to a dark and unknown future 
— no dread of the King of Terrors — -no doubts as to his accept- 
ance in Christ, obscured the radiance of his setting sun. In the 
same letter, written within six weeks of his departure, being then 
in good health, he thus affectionately addresses his eldest son in 
London, as if anticipating that his years were numbered : — 

"This is the last day of the year, and the last letter I shall write this year. 
My life has been wonderfully preserved, much beyond the usual course of na- 
ture. Goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life, nw&, with- 
out the shadow of boasting, I can add, I shall dwell in the house of the Lord 
forever. May the blessing of God Almighty rest on you and yours!! 
" Ever most affectionately yours, 

" J. A, Haldane." 

It was the gracious will of his heavenly Father that he should 
be spared the pain of a protracted illness. But there were many 
things which combined to make his last days and weeks and 
months a testimony to the strength of that assured faith which 
bore him onwards and upwards to the heavenly mansions. The 
following words, as uttered by him in one of his sermons in 
Northumberland, taken down by his daughter, Mrs, R. Burden 
Sanderson, indicate the practical and personal feeling by which 
many of his closing addresses seemed to be inspired : — - 

t; 'I am crucified with Christ.' I died in His death. I rise in His resurrect 
tion. I live, yet not I; Christ liveth in me. Not I, a poor wretched rebel,, 
whose foundation is in the dust, who dwell in a cottage of clay. It is I, the 
disciple of Christ, the member of Christ's body, who look forward to the glori- 
ous inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled, and which fadeth not away, wheal 
this vile body shall be fashioned like unto Christ's glorious body, when I shall 
have done with sin, when I shall have done with sorrow, when I shall have- 
done with everything that could interrupt my communion with Christ, audi 
when beyond the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills, I shall lay my crown 
at His feet, singing the song of Moses and the Lamb, ' Unto him that loved! 
me, and washed me from my sins in his own blood, unto him be glory both 
now and forever. Amen.' " 

38 



594 LAST ILLNESS. 

Another letter to his daughter-in-law, in London, was written 
on the 16th of January, of which the following is an extract : — 

" I received your very kind letter. Through the Lord's kindness, we are all 
well, with the exception of Helen, who has been confined to bed with a slow- 
fever for ten days. I trust there is no danger, yet it is an anxious time ; but 
we are taught to be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and sup- 
plication with thanksgiving, to make our requests known to him, who, wJtiilt* 
wielding all power in heaven and in earth, is not ashamed to call his people 
brethren." 

After some other remarks, full of maturity of Christian experi- 
ence, he says : — 

"I hope we shall also see you during the summer. Perhaps you will think 
I forget that I am in my eighty-third year, but I wish all future plans to be 
with this proviso, if the Lord will, we shall live, and do this or that. My wife 
and all here unite in kindest love to you and all at the Manor. Ever yours, most 
affectionately, 

" J. A. Haldane." 

In a letter to his eldest son, written but a few days before his 
illness, he again observes, that, although remarkably well, he did 
not forget that he was upon that part of Addison's Bridge of 
Mirza, where there are many pitfalls. Dr. Macaulay, of Edin- 
burgh, has addressed to Miss Haldane a graphic sketch of " Cap- 
tain James Haldane," in the year 1798, when, in the bloom of 
manhood, he stood on the Calton Hill of Edinburgh, in colored 
clothes, " with his hair powdered and tied behind," preaching 
with affectionate earnestness, and pressing home the truths of the 
Gospel on listening thousands. He concludes his interesting 
reminiscences, by relating, how fifty-three years afterwards, "on 
the 16th of January, 1851, I saw him for the last time at the 
Committee of the Edinburgh Bible Society." " I happened," he 
adds, "to be in the chair, and he sat beside me. He closed the 
meeting with a prayer, distinguished by that fervor and propriety 
which always characterized his addresses to the throne of grace. 
When the meeting was over, I saw him returning to his home, 
leaning on the arm of your brother Eobert, and this was my last 
right of the long-remembered and honored Mr. Haldane." 

Another attack of his old enemy the gout, which was the only 
complaint to which he was ever subject, became slightly percepti- 
ble on the 30th of January, when two of the grand-daughters of 
his late brother dined at his house, with some other friends. 1 1 
rather increased, so that, on the Lord's-day of the 2d of February. 



LAST ILLNESS. 595 

he was, for the first time, after a long interval, unable to leave 
the house. On Thusday, the 4th, he became worse, but although 
suffering much pain, he was wheeled into the drawing-room, and 
in the evening prayed as usual with his family. The twenty-first 
chapter of the Apocalypse was read in course by his youngest 
son, and his whole prayer had reference to the bright and glorious 
city, with its streets of gold, its walls of jasper, and its gates of 
pearl. He seemed about to close, when, as if unable to let go 
his hold, he once more began and prayed most fervently that all 
his family, his children and his children's children, might meet 
together in the new Jerusalem, and unite in the song of Moses 
and the Lamb. It was not then imagined that he had himself 
really entered the dark flowing river, and was about to enter into 
the joy of his Lord. But his prayers were " ended." It was 
the last of those supplications, rich in spiritual grace and unction, 
which always so eminently marked the closeness of his com- 
munion with God. From the footstool of the throne of grace he 
was removed to his bed, from which he was not again to rise. He 
survived till the 8th, but after this spoke but little. He had gout 
all over, and partly owing to the sedatives administered, seemed 
usually to slumber. But even the feverish visions of his sleep 
were associated with ideas of the necessity of rising to visit the 
sick, and with the impression of the priestly character which he 
sustained in his household. In his wanderings he supposed that 
family worship was going on, and often inquired whether those 
around him waited for a blessing. Occasionally he listened to a 
few verses of the Scriptures, and intimated a brief assent to the 
comfort they breathed. On Friday, a passage of Scripture being 
repeated to him, at a time when it was uncertain whether he was 
able to listen, he raised himself a little, and distinctly repeated, 
" When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then we shall appear 
with him in glory." He was then asked if he thought he was 
soon going home. He answered, " Perhaps not quite yet." Mrs. 
Haldane affectionately said, " Then you will not leave us so 
soon." He replied, with a smile, " To depart and be with Christ 
is far better." On being asked if he felt much peace and happi- 
ness, he twice repeated, " Exceeding great and precious prom- 
ises." He then said, " But I must rise." Mrs. Haldane said, 
"You are not able to get up." He smiled and answered, "I 
shall be satisfied when I awake with his likeness." She said, 
"Is that what you meant by rising f" He answered, "Yes." 



596 DEATH. 

On Saturday morning, the 8th, Dr. Alison remarked how forcibly 
his pulse beat, although his strength was fast sinking, and Pro- 
fessor Millar added, "but he is quickly passing away, like a shock 
of corn, fully ripe, and you have cause to be thankful that he suf- 
fers so little." Daring his waking intervals, he was in possession 
of every faculty, even to the last day. About an hour before his 
departure his devoted wife said, " You are going to Jesus. How 
happy you will be soon." A vivid smile lighted up his coun- 
tenance with the expression of ineffable joy, as he emphatically 
said, " Oh ! yes." After this, Dr. Innes called, and prayed by 
his bedside. But it was doubtful if he heard. For about a quar- 
ter of an hour his breathing was rather difficult. He then be- 
came quite calm. His pulse beat almost to the last minute, and 
his face was suffused with color. Then, in the presence of his 
family, he drew the last soft breath, and, in an instant, the shadow 
of death passed over his countenance, and his ransomed spirit en- 
tered into the joy of his Lord. 

The close of such a life required no death-bed testimony, to 
the sustaining power of that Gospel which had been the delight 
of his heart. No man had more fully preached the freeness of 
the Gospel message. No man had more strongly proclaimed, that 
the oldest and most favored Christian never entered heaven, but 
upon the same self-abasing terms as the thief on the cross. But 
none had, at the same time, more plainly declared his belief, 
founded on much personal experience, that for the most part men 
die as they have lived. His own life had been for fifty -seven years a 
bright example of a life of faith ; and it was truly said of him, by 
his venerable friend and fellow-laborer, the Rev. Dr. Innes, in his 
funeral sermon, " To him to live was Christ, but to die was gain." 

He was to have preached on the following day in Dr. Chalmers's 
Free Church, in the Westport, for the Eev. Mr. Tasker. That 
devoted minister, on being unexpectedly informed of the transi- 
tion which had taken place, thus expressed his feelings in writing 
to Mr. Haldane's son Kobert : — 

" February 8, 1851. 

" I cannot give expression to the conflicting flood of emotion stirred in my 
breast by the most unexpected tidings of your father's departure to his home, 
especially in the circumstances in which he and I were brought together, with 
the purpose he so cordially entertained of preaching to us to-morrow. But 
his work is done. He is gone. He is gone to the mountains of myrtle and 
of myrrh and the hill of frankincense, and the voice says most distinctly here, 
4 Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, 



FUNERAL. 597 

saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow 
them.' I am prompted to follow him and Dr. Chalmers, whither they are met; 
by different, yet concurring, converging paths; both led by what each believed 
the Master's will, they warred a good warfare. While here even they saw but 
in part and prophesied but in part, but now to them that which is perfect is 
come, and they are, in all respects, one. How striking to us! The Lord 
sanctify it to our Westport congregation and to me! How fitted is the thought 
to solemnize, that I shall stand, if spared, to-morrow, in the place that he had 
willingly engaged to occupy. Surely the Lord has said, 'It was well that it 
was in thy heart, but come thou up hither, thy son shall build me an house.' 
And what a memoir will your father's be ! He has died in harness, speaking 
and writing and preaching to the last. Called away to-day, and only in the be- 
ginning of this week entertaining the prospect of preaching in the Westport 
on to-morrow. But his reward is on high ! Sustained in the field till the age 
of eighty-three ! 

"Robert Haldane, Esq." 

It was remarked in the Edinburgh newspapers, that his funeral, 
which took place on the 12th of February, " although intended 
to be strictly private, drew together a large concourse of the citi- 
zens of Edinburgh, anxious to do homage to his public character 
and private worth. No man was less disposed to court the ap- 
plause of men, or indulge the semblance of ostentation ; but 
the respect shown to his memory by the ministers and members 
of different religious communities in this city, is a noble demon- 
stration of Christian sympathy with all that is exemplary in a 
long and consistent career of Christian devotedness." It is stated 
in another journal, that, besides the mourning coaches, containing 
the members of his family and private friends, there were no less 
than 600 ministers, elders, and private members of the different 
religious communities in Edinburgh. The Presbytery of the 
Free Church, in a body, headed by the Bev. Dr. Candlish, with 
their students, joined the procession in George-street. The win- 
dows of the houses through which the procession passed were 
crowded with spectators. From the gate of the West Churchyard 
to the Church, rows of clergymen lined each side of the principal 
avenue, and uncovered as the coffin passed. There were minis- 
ters both of the Established, Free, and Secession Presbyterian 
Churches, as well as Episcopalians, Baptists, and Independents, who 
thus united to pay a voluntary tribute of respect to the public 
services of a man, who, with his brother, was honored to do so much 
for the revival of religion in Scotland. The "Scotsman," an 
exclusively political journal, remarks, that such a spontaneous 
tribute of respect " has rarely been paid to any private individual ;" 



598 FUNERAL. 

and another, that, excepting the funerals of Dr. Chalmers and 
Dr. Thomson, " there has not been such an unsolicited demonstra- 
tion of public feeling on any like occasion." 

There were many little incidents which indicated the reverence 
and love in which he was held. One aged member of his own 
Church had placed himself, with the rest of the members, in ad- 
vance of the hearse, but on account of his age was urged to take 
a seat in one of the mourning coaches. He declined, alleging 
that " his proper place was at the feet of his pastor." It was Mr. 
Haldane who had been the means of leading him to Christ when, 
more than fifty years before, he had wandered into the Circus, 
There were others who gathered round the grave, not connected 
with Mr. Haldane's congregation, who bore the same testimony 
to the blessed effects of his faithful preaching. On the Lord's- 
day succeeding his departure, honorable reference was made to 
his removal in many of the pulpits of Edinburgh by clergymen 
of almost every religious denomination, Presbyterian, Episcopa- 
lian, Baptist, and Independent. The character of Caleb, who 
"followed the Lord fully," was the subject chosen by the Eev. 
Christopher Anderson, whose early recollections of his departed 
friend enabled him to supply many interesting anecdotes of his 
power as a preacher. The Rev. Dr. Paterson, long so much dis- 
tinguished as the agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society 
in Russia, who had originally studied with Dr. Henderson at Mr. 
Haldane's seminary, and been sent out as a missionary by the 
Tabernacle Church, thus wrote : — 

. . . " I lament that I should have necessarily, from these circumstances, 
been absent, as my absenee must have been noticed by all present who knew 
the connection which had formerly subsisted between your dear father and my- 
self. It is true our intercourse has rather been interrupted for some time past, 
by our taking different sides about the British and Foreign Bible Society ; but 
my high regard and esteem for your dear father was never interrupted. I can 
never forget his eminent services in the Gospel of Christ, and his kindness to 
myself. I shall cherish a kind recollection of his memory till death, and then, 
I hope, through grace, to join him in glory, where uninterrupted harmony and 
love will ever reign among all the inhabitants of that- blessed place. My prayer 
is, that a double portion of his spirit may rest on all his dear family, and that 
they all may be followers of him as he was of Christ, and join him never to 
be more separated." 

Xor were such testimonies confined to Edinburgh, or to those 
only who knew him in Scotland. An eloquent tribute from the 
pen of the Rev. Dr. Campbell was published in the " British 



TESTIMONIES. 599 

Banner." The following, by the Rev. Dr. Henry Burder, the son 
of the founder* of the Tract Society, and the author of the 
;: Village Sermons," appeared in the " Evangelical Magazine :" — 

" But few men, and but few ministers, whom I have known, have attained 
such a grade of Christian character, or commanded from all classes such a 
tribute of the homage of the heart. His matured proficiency in the knowledge 
of the Scriptures, his enlightened conscientiousness, his Christian dignity and 
decision, his unsullied consistency of character, and his persevering energy in 
doing good, will not soon be forgotten, and ought to have the force of an at- 
tractive example. The mellowed excellencies of the Christian character ap- 
peared to great advantage in the autumn of his peaceful and useful life. He 
seemed exempted beyond the ordinary lot of the aged from the infirmities and 
sufferings of protracted life; and as to him 'to live was Christ,' we are well 
assured that ' to die has proved ineffable gain.' " 

Another tribute of affection from his attached friend, Colonel 
Anderson, is the more interesting as contrasting with the recollec- 
tions of the scene at North Berwick, related in a former part of 
these Memoirs : — 

" The first impulse on hearing of the translation of your honored father was 
to start for the north, and have the privilege of following the earthly remains 
of the man of God to the tomb. ... I cannot well define the reverence 
with which I regarded your beloved father. Few men have been as useful in 
their generation, and his name will be held in grateful remembrance by very many. 
It was a great privilege to be even known to such a man, and how great was 
the honor to be the son of such a man ! The grace of God was surely seen in 
the departed saint. A long and eminently consistent life put to silence the 
foolishness of the adversary, and I believe many ransomed spirits are now around 
the throne, who have welcomed him to the heavenly mansion as the blessed 
instrument of turning them from darkness to light, and leading them to a 
knowledge of saving truth as exhibited in the Gospel. I have long been per- 
suaded that your father and uncle were specially raised up to be the means of 
revising the Church in their native land." 

Mr. Haldane's relative, the Rev. James O'Hara, of Coleraine, 
says of him: "His views on the believer's union with Christ 
have shown me more of the Holiness necessarily connected with 
Faith than any Commentary that has ever come in my way." 
Another eminent clergyman of the Established Church, in the 
north of Ireland, thus wrote, after reading a sketch of his life 
copied in the " Record" newspaper : — 

* At p. 249 of these Memoirs, the Rev. George Burder is named as the first Sec- 
retary of the Religious Tract Society. He was the chief founder of that Institu- 
tion, hut the Rev. Joseph Hughes was the Secretary, and as the Tract Society was 
the parent of the British and Foreign Bible Society, Mr. Hughes passed over from 
Paternoster-row to Earl-street. 



600 TESTIMONIES. 

" February 28, 1851. 

" My dear Friend, — The ' Record' brought me the account of your venera- 
ted father's removal from earth to heaven. I have read with deep interest the 
sketch of his early labors, and the great blessing which attended them. 

- It brought vividly to my mind the long and pleasant walk I had with him 
;md dear Dawson and yourself one summer's night, returning from dining at 
Mr. Hamilton's at Streatham, when he gave me an account of his visiting 
Donaghadee many years, it seemed almost ages, ago, and his effort at that time 
to make known the Gospel in that dead part of Ireland. I cannot but consider 
it amongst the many advantages which I derived from Dawson's friendship, that 
it was the means of bringing me acquainted with so eminent a servant of God, 
— one of the worthies of that ' time of refreshing from the Lord' with which 
this part of the world was visited, and which the new generation now growing 
up will look at with wonder and great interest. And now when trials of a dif- 
ferent kind, arising from Puseyism and Neology, are gathering round us, the 
example of that boldness for the truth and persevering energy in its behalf, and 
cleaving to first principles, and caring naught for the revilings and contempt of 
men, which were so conspicuous in his character, are a valuable help to those 
who come after him in the war which is not to cease ' until He come whose 
right it is to reign over the world.' " 

The next letter, whilst it refers to the remarkable faith in the 
resurrection which was exhibited by the dying saint amidst all 
the weakness and wandering incident to approaching dissolution, 
also alludes to the sad bereavement which immediately followed 
his departure, in the sudden removal of the beloved wife of his 
second son, Eobert, after the birth of an infant, who was laid in 
the same grave : — 

" Belle vue, Feb. 27th, 1851. 

" My dear Miss Margaret, — Your letter shocked, but did not altogether 
surprise me. I scarcely dared to hope, and yet I did hope that the Lord would 
spare the mother for the children's sakes, to say nothing of the bereaved hus- 
band. I do, however, think of him, and what is more, I believe that God thinks 
of him also, and, perhaps, will do him more good by the day of his wife's death 
than by the day of her espousals. It is, indeed, to her the marriage supper of 
the Lamb, and the Bride hath made herself ready, being adorned in the wedding 
o-arment of Christ's righteousness and washed in his blood. May we all be 
found in that same clothing, when we come to be unclothed of the earthly tab- 
ernacle, that we may be clothed upon with our house from heaven ! How in- 
significant do all earthly objects appear when we see a- spirit departing into the 
land of forgetfulness, and yet not to be forgotten, for he hath said, ' With ever- 
lasting mercies will I gather thee ;' yea, though our bones lie scattered at the 
grave's mouth, and our dust be mingled with the earth. 

" Mr. Haldane's last words were remarkable, and showed strong faith in the 
resurrection, — a subject exceedingly difficult to realize, doubtless, in the article 
of death. It is easy to believe anything, while it is not a question, but to be- 
lieve that we shall rise again assuredly, when we are just going down into the 



CONCLUSION. 601 

grave, requires a faith like Abraham's, who, against hope, believed in hope, — a 
faith of His working, who is indeed almighty to save, — in a word, a faith of 
omnipotence. It is promised, however, that in the hour of need we shall know 
the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the 
working of that mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him 
from the dead. The faith of Christ's resurrection is the life of our spirit, and 
the death of unbelief. It strikes a blow at our incredulity which no other 
weapon can inflict. 

" Affectionately yours and the whole afflicted family's, 

" R. B. Sanderson." 

In the letter last inserted, the writer expresses his admiration 
of the faith which enabled the dying saint, even in the hour of 
dissolution, to look with assured confidence to a glorious resur- 
rection. It was an assurance granted to both of these brothers, 
and one which gilded the sunset of their career with a hope full 
of immortality. Was this, then, a mere passing feeling, dependent 
upon impulse or excitement? Is it to be numbered amongst 
those transient "fantasies" at which modern unbelievers have 
sneered ? Was it a faith such as that which, according to Gibbon, 
enables " enthusiasts" to dream of " hallelujahs beyond the 
clouds ?" Both were men of strong intellect, of manly indepen- 
dence, of calm judgment, and, as Dr. Pye Smith said of the elder, 
addicted beyond most to "cool reasoning." Their zeal was steady 
rather than impulsive, and their faith was established, not on the 
shifting sands of a dubious sentimentalism, but on the enduring 
basis of the Eock of Ages. In the bloom of manhood, a great 
moral change passed over both nearly at the same time, but with- 
out much communication with each other. It had in it nothing 
that was sudden, nothing that was imaginative, nothing even that 
was extraordinary. It was a change produced by the calm and 
candid investigation of the lofty claims of that holy book, which 
previously they had called the Word of God, "from prejudice of 
education rather than from any rational conviction." 

But when the great truth found entrance to their hearts ; when 
by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, promised to all who ask, they 
received the Bible as being, what it assumes to be, the Word and 
work of God ; when they came to discern the grandeur of that 
Gospel which shines in all its pages, and beheld Him to whom the 
Law, the prophets, the evangelists, and the apostles, all bear wit- 
ness ; then faith in Christ became a living and energizing princi- 
ple. In Him they were a new creation ; old things had passed 
away ; Christianity was now a reality, exalting and hallowing all 



602 CONCLUSION. 

their faculties and all their affections ; the world no longer main- 
tained its empire in their hearts ; and they devoted their lives to 
the service of God with a zeal which can be stigmatized as enthusi- 
asm only by those who have neither felt the constraining power of 
Divine forgiveness, nor, like them, examined and ascertained the 
deep foundations of the Christian faith. Upon their principles and 
with their convictions, it was " a reasonable service," to surrender 
themselves to Him who had " washed them in his blood ;" and as 
these principles became more firmly settled, and these convictions 
strengthened by communion with God and the study of his Word, 
the first impulses of youthful earnestness were approved of and 
sanctioned by the sober gravity of maturer age. They held fast 
'the beginning of their confidence steadfast to the end, and dis- 
cerned with joy the glorious light, of Him who is the resurrection 
and the life, streaming across the dark valley of the shadow of 
death. ' This was the secret of their triumph over the king of ter- 
rors, and of the calm satisfaction with which they regarded the 
termination of their course. When Gibbon was contemplating 
the approach of death, he candidly admitted that "the prospect 
of futurity was dark and doubtful," and that "the abbreviation 
of time, and the failure of hope, must always tinge with a browner 
shade the evening of life." He therefore tried to draw some com- 
fort from the thought of his position in the world, which he re- 
garded as "the lucky chance of an unit against thousands." He 
might indeed, as he says, have been condemned to poverty, or 
born a savage, or a slave. But of this he was "willingly igno- 
rant," that the privileges of which he boasts were not the result 
of accident, but of God's sovereignty, which, if properly improved, 
should have led him to repent and believe in that gracious reve- 
lation, against which he levelled his melancholy sarcasms. It is 
no marvel that, to him, the objects of the dying Christian's hope 
appeared only as the dreams of enthusiasm. For him, alas ! the 
palm, the harp, and the crown, or the harmonies of heaven's hal- 
lelujahs, possessed no charms. It was otherwise with those who 
regarded as their Saviour, the Judge who is to sit upon the great 
white throne, and around whom the rolling anthems of everlast- 
ing praise will be forever new. 

Considering the end, as well as the beginning, of their faith, ii 
is not surprising that both of the Haldanes clung to the Bible with 
a fidelity that was never shaken. To assert its Divine origin, to 
uphold its full inspiration, to protect it against those who would 



CONCLUSION. 603 

cither add to the words of God or profanely take them away, was 
(Hie great object for which they lived and labored. To defend 
its doctrines against every blast of heresy and every taint of error 
was another grand aim which they steadily pursued with consis- 
tency and courage, from the outset to the termination of their 
career. Against the withering spirit of Eomanistic formalism and 
the infidel tendencies of German Neology they uplifted the ban- 
ner of Divine truth. But, earnestly as they contended for the 
faith once delivered to the saints, their exertions for the diffusion 
of the Gospel at home and abroad were still more remarkable. 
They taught, as well as vindicated, the great truths of Christian- 
ity, and the results of their efforts stretch into eternity. 

The attention which at one time they directed to the revival of 
a primitive form of Church polity in Scotland, is the only part of 
the career of the Haldanes in regard to which success was not 
proportioned to their efforts. Perhaps it was necessary that there 
should be something practically and visibly to remind those who 
chiefly revered their character and marked their self-devotion, 
that they were but feeble and fallible men, able to do nothing of 
themselves, and owing all their might to God. But even in these 
matters they were enabled by grace to exhibit their desire with 
singleness of heart, to cleave to the Lord, and to renounce their 
own wisdom. Too many Christians look to the opinion of men 
to guide their course. They looked only to God. It was His 
praise they desired to gain ; and the praise of men, whether in the 
Church or in the world, as a motive of action, they resolutely 
cast behind their backs. 

But it is not intended to write a panegyric. Their character 
will be found stamped on their acts; and whether we regard the 
labors of the elder brother for the revival of Christianity on the 
Continent of Europe, or the labors of both in their native land, 
it has been said with truth that they have left the impress of their 
name on the age in which they lived. Their example and success, 
both at home and abroad, is an encouragement to all who are will- 
ing and able, with equal boldness, zeal, and perseverance, in re- 
liance upon the Divine blessing, to maintain the great truths of 
salvation, and make known the free Gospel of the grace of God. 
Both were content for a time to be sneered at by the world, and 
accounted madmen for the sake of Christ. Each dedicated intel- 
lectual talents of no common order to the same cause — the one 
by bis preaching, but still more by his writings ; the other, by his 



604 CONCLUSION. 

writings, but far more by bis preaching, taught and vindicated the 
same great truths. It may be said of both that in all their un- 
dertakings for the promotion of religion they proceeded hand in 
hand. Although each was distinguished for a determined will, 
and strong adherence to his own views of duty, there subsisted 
between them a remarkable harmony of design and oneness of 
spirit ; and never, during their long and honorable course of mu- 
tual co-operation, was there one jarring feeling to disturb their 
efforts for the common object they so consistently pursued. That 
object was the glory of Christ and the salvation of their fellow- 
men ; and now that the career of both is closed, and death has 
affixed his seal on the record of their earthly labors, the simplicity 
of their holy aim, the depth of their hallowed benevolence, and 
the steadfastness of their lofty principle, stand more plainly re- 
vealed. From the moment they undertook to devote their lives 
to labor in the Gospel, there was no looking back to scenes of 
past enjoyment. Wealth, honor, worldly renown, and reputation, 
were all counted but loss ; nor did the seducing hope of earning 
a name and a place in the Christian world ever tempt their ambi- 
tion. Their single desire was wholly to follow the Lord. 



NOTE. 

Robert Haldane had no male heir, but his only child, Margaret Haldane Gor- 
don, who survived her husband nearly six years, had three sons and six daugh- 
ters. Her two eldest sons, Major John Gordon and Robert Haldane Gordon, 
both died unmarried in her lifetime. Her youngest son, the Rev. James Gor- 
don, alone survived, and is married to Thomazine, only surviving daughter of 
the late William Crawford, of Lakelands, Esq., in the county of Cork. Three 
of Mrs. Haldane Gordon's daughters died in infancy, and three survive. These 
•ire the only descendants of Robert Haldane. 

James A. Haldane, who became, on his brother's death, heir-male of their 
father, had three sons and six daughters by his first marriage, of whom Jame^. 
the eldest son, died in 1831, unmarried. The eldest surviving son, Alexander, 
married Emma, youngest child of the late Joseph Hardcastle, Esq., of Hatcham 
House, in the county of Surrey, and has one son, James Robert Alexander, born 
14th August, 1842, and five daughters. Mr. J. A. Haldane's second surviving 
sou, Robert, married Jane, daughter of the late John Makgill, Esq., of Kemback, 
in the county of Fife, who died in the same month as her father-in-law, leaving 
two sons, the elder named James Alexander, the second Robert Camperdown, 
!ind three daughters. Two of Mr. J. A. Haldane's daughters by his first mar- 
riage died unmarried, and of the four survivors, Mary was married to Colonel 
James Eckford, C.B., and Catherine to George Eckford, Esq. By the second 
marriage there were three sons, of whom one died in infancy and two survive, 
namely, Daniel Rutherford and James. There are also three daughters, the 
eldest of whom is married to Richard Burdon Sanderson, Esq., younger of 
West Jesraond, in Northumberland. 



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